Narrative:

As we prepared for our flight; I noticed that the aircraft had bleed 1 failure and intermittent bleed 2 failure earlier in the day; with maintenance conducting repairs and clearing both malfunctions. Right after our takeoff on runway 30R; we received a bleed 2 fail caution message. Knowing that at this altitude we had plenty of time to troubleshoot it; I decided to gain another couple thousand feet before pulling out the book. Just as we passed about 5;000 ft; however; we also received a bleed 1 fail message. We asked ATC to level off at 6;000 ft and I took out the QRH while the first officer continued flying the aircraft and handled the radios. At this point pressurization stopped and you could definitely tell changes in air pressure. The QRH had me turn the bleeds off; wait for the messages to clear and then turn them back on. After performing the procedure; the messages cleared. However; within a minute or so bleed 2 fail returned. Knowing what was ahead; we asked for vectors back to the airport. Right after that; bleed 1 failed too. I sent an ACARS message to dispatch about returning to the departure airport; contacted the station; briefed the flight attendants and the passengers; and then returned to pilot not flying duties to set up our landing speeds and resume radio communications. Landing was uneventful and we were able to swap to another aircraft. In attempting to contact dispatch; I would have liked to use voice communication; but since I had never used the handheld microphone link; I did not remember how to activate it; so I had to rely on ACARS; which was probably ok in the situation. However; while I remembered that instructions were in the fom; I had no idea where to look. I would recommend a page on activating the link in the QRH; so it can be easily referenced in time of need. In addition; obviously previous maintenance on the aircraft did not solve the problem. I do not know what causes both bleeds; which should be independent; to fail at the same time; but the problem was not solved during the previous troubleshooting.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An ERJ returned to its departure airport following the failure of both engine bleeds.

Narrative: As we prepared for our flight; I noticed that the aircraft had bleed 1 failure and intermittent bleed 2 failure earlier in the day; with Maintenance conducting repairs and clearing both malfunctions. Right after our takeoff on Runway 30R; we received a Bleed 2 Fail caution message. Knowing that at this altitude we had plenty of time to troubleshoot it; I decided to gain another couple thousand feet before pulling out the book. Just as we passed about 5;000 FT; however; we also received a Bleed 1 Fail message. We asked ATC to level off at 6;000 FT and I took out the QRH while the First Officer continued flying the aircraft and handled the radios. At this point pressurization stopped and you could definitely tell changes in air pressure. The QRH had me turn the bleeds off; wait for the messages to clear and then turn them back on. After performing the procedure; the messages cleared. However; within a minute or so Bleed 2 Fail returned. Knowing what was ahead; we asked for vectors back to the airport. Right after that; Bleed 1 failed too. I sent an ACARS message to Dispatch about returning to the departure airport; contacted the station; briefed the flight attendants and the passengers; and then returned to pilot not flying duties to set up our landing speeds and resume radio communications. Landing was uneventful and we were able to swap to another aircraft. In attempting to contact Dispatch; I would have liked to use voice communication; but since I had never used the handheld microphone link; I did not remember how to activate it; so I had to rely on ACARS; which was probably ok in the situation. However; while I remembered that instructions were in the FOM; I had no idea where to look. I would recommend a page on activating the link in the QRH; so it can be easily referenced in time of need. In addition; obviously previous maintenance on the aircraft did not solve the problem. I do not know what causes both bleeds; which should be independent; to fail at the same time; but the problem was not solved during the previous troubleshooting.

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.