Narrative:

I transferred controls to the first officer (first officer) for the takeoff. Continuous ignition was on due to cross winds. Coming through 80 kts. We had all normal engine indications. Between 200-400 ft. AGL I noticed that something was not right. We immediately received two caution messages: left engine srg open msg and left engine degraded msg. However; the thing that I focused on was that the itt for the left engine which was in the red; exceeding limits. I thought that the engine was going to automatically shut down and I started to prepare to fly a V1 profile. It did not; so we flew a normal 2-engine profile. Tower asked us to contact departure at this point. We were only cleared up 3;000 ft. MSL. As soon as I contacted departure; I told them that we were having issues; and we will be returning to ZZZ. They asked if I wanted to climb but I told them that we would stay at 3;000 ft. I asked for them to get us closer to the final approach course. They started giving us vectors and we kept the airspeed at 210 kts. I started to work on the QRH and the first officer took the controls and radios. I started to look for the left engine srg open msg. All my training had me start looking under 'east' for engine but I could not find it. After spending a minute not being able to find it; I knew that I was missing something. I transferred controls with the first officer; and he took the QRH. Of course; he found the QRH under 'left'. I think I was just focusing on too many things at the moment to realize that the QRH had recently changed. The first officer ran through both of the procedures for the QRH. By now; the itt was back in a normal range since we brought back the power. The airplane was flying normally other than the itt being a little higher on the left engine. I sent a quick message to dispatch to let them know I was headed back to ZZZ. By now; we were near the FAF. I kept the controls while the first officer briefed up the approach. Followed by the descent checklist. I attempted to contact ops but I could not get a response. I then gave 3 chimes to the fas and [briefed] them. I made an announcement to the passengers to let them know what we were doing. The approach and landing were uneventful. After landing; I contacted maintenance; dispatch and the chief pilot.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-900 flight crew reported returning to departure airport after experiencing high ITT in the left engine shortly after takeoff.

Narrative: I transferred controls to the FO (First Officer) for the takeoff. Continuous Ignition was on due to cross winds. Coming through 80 kts. we had all normal engine indications. Between 200-400 ft. AGL I noticed that something was not right. We immediately received two caution messages: L ENG SRG OPEN msg and L ENG DEGRADED msg. However; the thing that I focused on was that the ITT for the left engine which was in the red; exceeding limits. I thought that the engine was going to automatically shut down and I started to prepare to fly a V1 profile. It did not; so we flew a normal 2-engine profile. Tower asked us to contact departure at this point. We were only cleared up 3;000 ft. MSL. As soon as I contacted departure; I told them that we were having issues; and we will be returning to ZZZ. They asked if I wanted to climb but I told them that we would stay at 3;000 ft. I asked for them to get us closer to the final approach course. They started giving us vectors and we kept the airspeed at 210 kts. I started to work on the QRH and the FO took the controls and radios. I started to look for the L ENG SRG OPEN msg. All my training had me start looking under 'E' for ENG but I could not find it. After spending a minute not being able to find it; I knew that I was missing something. I transferred controls with the FO; and he took the QRH. Of course; he found the QRH under 'L'. I think I was just focusing on too many things at the moment to realize that the QRH had recently changed. The FO ran through both of the procedures for the QRH. By now; the ITT was back in a normal range since we brought back the power. The airplane was flying normally other than the ITT being a little higher on the left engine. I sent a quick message to dispatch to let them know I was headed back to ZZZ. By now; we were near the FAF. I kept the controls while the FO briefed up the approach. Followed by the descent checklist. I attempted to contact Ops but I could not get a response. I then gave 3 chimes to the FAs and [briefed] them. I made an announcement to the passengers to let them know what we were doing. The approach and landing were uneventful. After landing; I contacted Maintenance; Dispatch and the Chief Pilot.

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.