Narrative:

On take-off we heard a loud clanking sound coming from the nose wheel area of the aircraft on gear retraction. Initially we thought the sound was from the nose wheel rubbing against the mechanical stop plates within the nose landing gear wheel well; which isn't uncommon to hear after gear retraction. However; in this case the sound didn't stop after the gear was up and stowed. After gear retraction the EICAS indicated that the gear was up and locked. The flight attendant (flight attendant) later reported that she could also hear the clanking sound; she reported that she could hear it all the way back to row 5 of the aircraft. During the climb we determined that an air return back to [departure airport] as a precaution was the best course of action to take. When we contacted departure control we relayed to them our intention of returning to the airport. ATC then began providing radar vectors for the approach and assigned us an altitude of 5200 feet. After level off we decided to recycle the landing gear in an attempt to narrow down the cause of the clanking sound. At this point during the flight there were no EICAS messages associated with the nose or the gear. However; the noise continued. We brought the gear back up and began preparing for the approach. I instructed the first officer (first officer) to notify dispatch of our return to field while I contacted the flight attendant and made a passenger PA. As we were being radar vectored for the approach we started to get an intermittent nose gear in transit indication on the EICAS. The indication was switching between up and locked (a white up label inside of a white box) and an in transit indication (the box was cross-hatched in amber and black). At this time we accomplished nose landing gear up door open procedure from the QRH.while receiving radar vectors from ATC at 5200 feet we were located near two towers. One of the towers indicated an elevation of 3975 feet and the other tower had an elevation of 4011 feet. At our near this area described above we received a 'terrain pull up' egpws alert. We took evasive action and executed the GPWS warning escape maneuver (flight conditions: at night in IMC). We notified ATC and climbed to 6000 feet. It is not clear whether or not this egpws alert was associating with the gear in transit indications or an actual egpws alert. We then continued with normal and uneventful approach and landing. After arriving back to the gate I contacted dispatch and maintenance control. The event was detected by a loud clanking noise coming from the nose of the aircraft and was later identified by an associated landing gear EICAS message. We are unaware of the cause of the noise. Both the first officer and I determined that the best course of action to take was an air return back to the field.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-145 Captain reported an EGPWS terrain warning during return to departure airport after a nose gear malfunction.

Narrative: On take-off we heard a loud clanking sound coming from the nose wheel area of the aircraft on gear retraction. Initially we thought the sound was from the nose wheel rubbing against the mechanical stop plates within the nose landing gear wheel well; which isn't uncommon to hear after gear retraction. However; in this case the sound didn't stop after the gear was up and stowed. After gear retraction the EICAS indicated that the gear was up and locked. The FA (Flight Attendant) later reported that she could also hear the clanking sound; she reported that she could hear it all the way back to row 5 of the aircraft. During the climb we determined that an air return back to [departure airport] as a precaution was the best course of action to take. When we contacted Departure Control we relayed to them our intention of returning to the airport. ATC then began providing radar vectors for the approach and assigned us an altitude of 5200 feet. After level off we decided to recycle the landing gear in an attempt to narrow down the cause of the clanking sound. At this point during the flight there were no EICAS messages associated with the nose or the gear. However; the noise continued. We brought the gear back up and began preparing for the approach. I instructed the FO (First Officer) to notify dispatch of our return to field while I contacted the FA and made a passenger PA. As we were being radar vectored for the approach we started to get an intermittent nose gear in transit indication on the EICAS. The indication was switching between up and locked (a white UP label inside of a white box) and an in transit indication (the box was cross-hatched in amber and black). At this time we accomplished Nose Landing Gear Up Door Open procedure from the QRH.While receiving radar vectors from ATC at 5200 feet we were located near two towers. One of the towers indicated an elevation of 3975 feet and the other tower had an elevation of 4011 feet. At our near this area described above we received a 'TERRAIN PULL UP' EGPWS alert. We took evasive action and executed the GPWS warning escape maneuver (Flight conditions: at night in IMC). We notified ATC and climbed to 6000 feet. It is not clear whether or not this EGPWS alert was associating with the gear in transit indications or an actual EGPWS alert. We then continued with normal and uneventful approach and landing. After arriving back to the gate I contacted Dispatch and Maintenance Control. The event was detected by a loud clanking noise coming from the nose of the aircraft and was later identified by an associated landing gear EICAS message. We are unaware of the cause of the noise. Both the FO and I determined that the best course of action to take was an air return back to the field.

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.