Narrative:

Normal takeoff and initial climb from runway xx at ZZZ. In the left turn to the north for our first fix; we received the caution chime and the 'fuel ch 1/2 fail' message illuminated. It remained on for approximately 10 seconds then went out. We commented 'that was odd' and then it illuminated again with the chime. It cycled this way 2 more times before we got to 5000 feet; and as pilot flying I called for the QRH checklist for fuel ch 1/2 fail. Pilot monitoring read and performed the checklist while I talked with ATC; stopping our climb at 5000 feet (we had been cleared to 10) and getting a vector to stay in the local area while we ran the checklist. The QRH instructed that we land at the nearest suitable airport; and ZZZ was less than 10 miles away so the decision to return was easily made. While pilot monitoring was running the QRH; the caution message returned and remained on throughout the procedure.I advised ATC we would be returning and requested vectors to final for runway xx; which they provided along with a descent. In the descent; as pilot monitoring was finishing the QRH; I made an announcement in the back that we would be returning to the airport for a fuel distribution problem. The flight attendant called up and I apologized for not calling her first and gave her the details. (We talked later and I told her she did the right thing).pilot monitoring finished the QRH and we monitored fuel; slipping the aircraft as required to try to maintain fuel balance. During our climb to 5000 feet; the fuel had gone from balanced to 300 lbs difference in less than 2 minutes. By the time we finished the checklist; the unbalanced condition had worsened to 500 lbs; and by slipping the aircraft we arrested the imbalance trend. We remarked that we needed to get on the ground. I asked pilot monitoring to grab the landing numbers as we turned final but he had already done so and he bugged the numbers as we contacted tower and were cleared to land.after finishing the QRH; the status message 'fuel ch 2 fail' appeared and the caution message disappeared. I slipped the aircraft most of the way down final in order to keep the fuel from becoming more unbalanced. We landed without incident. By the time we landed; the aileron trim was required to be almost to the right wing down limit in order to keep pressure off the yoke. Total time from takeoff to touchdown was less than 15 minutes.we had no time in which to send a message to dispatch. I recall considering sending a message and asked pilot monitoring to do so at one point; but then said something like; 'never mind that there isn't time we will be on the ground in 1 minute and I'll call them.' if we had been further from the airport by 5 minutes; we would have had time to send a message. However; since we were on a wide downwind when the caution message appeared and the fuel balance degraded so quickly; it would have been unsafe to delay the landing while sending a message via ACARS. After landing; pilot monitoring and I as well as the jump seater all commented that the aircraft was leaning to the heavy side; so it was apparent this was not an indication failure. [The cause was a] fuel system failure.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-200 flight crew reported returning to departure airport after takeoff due to a Fuel Channel Fail EICAS messages and being unable to maintain normal fuel balance.

Narrative: Normal takeoff and initial climb from Runway XX at ZZZ. In the left turn to the north for our first fix; we received the Caution chime and the 'FUEL CH 1/2 FAIL' message illuminated. It remained on for approximately 10 seconds then went out. We commented 'that was odd' and then it illuminated again with the chime. It cycled this way 2 more times before we got to 5000 feet; and as Pilot Flying I called for the QRH checklist for FUEL CH 1/2 FAIL. Pilot Monitoring read and performed the checklist while I talked with ATC; stopping our climb at 5000 feet (we had been cleared to 10) and getting a vector to stay in the local area while we ran the checklist. The QRH instructed that we land at the nearest suitable airport; and ZZZ was less than 10 miles away so the decision to return was easily made. While Pilot Monitoring was running the QRH; the Caution message returned and remained on throughout the procedure.I advised ATC we would be returning and requested vectors to final for Runway XX; which they provided along with a descent. In the descent; as Pilot Monitoring was finishing the QRH; I made an announcement in the back that we would be returning to the airport for a fuel distribution problem. The Flight Attendant called up and I apologized for not calling her first and gave her the details. (We talked later and I told her she did the right thing).Pilot Monitoring finished the QRH and we monitored fuel; slipping the aircraft as required to try to maintain fuel balance. During our climb to 5000 feet; the fuel had gone from balanced to 300 lbs difference in less than 2 minutes. By the time we finished the checklist; the unbalanced condition had worsened to 500 lbs; and by slipping the aircraft we arrested the imbalance trend. We remarked that we needed to get on the ground. I asked Pilot Monitoring to grab the landing numbers as we turned Final but he had already done so and he bugged the numbers as we contacted Tower and were cleared to land.After finishing the QRH; the status message 'FUEL CH 2 FAIL' appeared and the Caution message disappeared. I slipped the aircraft most of the way down final in order to keep the fuel from becoming more unbalanced. We landed without incident. By the time we landed; the aileron trim was required to be almost to the right wing down limit in order to keep pressure off the yoke. Total time from takeoff to touchdown was less than 15 minutes.We had no time in which to send a message to Dispatch. I recall considering sending a message and asked Pilot Monitoring to do so at one point; but then said something like; 'Never mind that there isn't time we will be on the ground in 1 minute and I'll call them.' If we had been further from the airport by 5 minutes; we would have had time to send a message. However; since we were on a wide downwind when the Caution message appeared and the fuel balance degraded so quickly; it would have been unsafe to delay the landing while sending a message via ACARS. After landing; Pilot Monitoring and I as well as the jump seater all commented that the aircraft was leaning to the heavy side; so it was apparent this was not an indication failure. [The cause was a] Fuel System failure.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.