A crj 200 flight crew received a steering inop caution message after takeoff; declared an emergency ...

Attributes
ACN	872932
Time
Date	201002
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Nosewheel Steering
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Narrative:

After takeoff; upon retracting the landing gear; we got a steering inop caution message together with a wow [weight on wheels] input caution message and a wow output fail status message. We leveled off at 10;000 ft and conducted the QRH. Also contacted dispatch to assess the problem. It was determined that a return to the field was the safest action. We declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport landing with the steering inoperative. We landed uneventfully and stopped the aircraft on the centerline of the runway. I had a previous experience with a wow input fail caution message and it turned out that we had a flat tire which shred on landing. Because of this and also the steering inop I determined that returning to the departure airport's long runway and declaring an emergency was the best and safest option. The emergency was declared since I wasn't sure of my wheels being flat or not and my impaired steering capability upon landing. We landed safely without further incident.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ 200 flight crew received a steering inop caution message after takeoff; declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport without incident.

Narrative: After takeoff; upon retracting the landing gear; we got a steering inop caution message together with a WOW [Weight On Wheels] input caution message and a WOW output fail status message. We leveled off at 10;000 ft and conducted the QRH. Also contacted Dispatch to assess the problem. It was determined that a return to the field was the safest action. We declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport landing with the steering inoperative. We landed uneventfully and stopped the aircraft on the centerline of the runway. I had a previous experience with a WOW input fail caution message and it turned out that we had a flat tire which shred on landing. Because of this and also the steering inop I determined that returning to the departure airport's long runway and declaring an emergency was the best and safest option. The emergency was declared since I wasn't sure of my wheels being flat or not and my impaired steering capability upon landing. We landed safely without further incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

A crj 200 flight crew received a steering inop caution message after takeoff; declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport without incident.