An md-83 flight crew reported losing their fuel quantity indicating system in flight. They declared ...

Narrative:

In the climb we got 'all dashes' on all five fuel quantity displays. [I] also noticed that the right fuel flow was obviously incorrect; reading far too low or even dashes at times. Tried selecting 'B' fuel quantity indicating system; no help; all dashes. [I] tried abnormal procedure in QRH; which says to press annunciator test button; no help. I called dispatch and advised them of the situation; advised them that I thought we had no option other than to return to [departure airport]. I advised dispatch that it would be an overweight landing and that we would declare an emergency with ATC. While I was speaking with dispatch the first officer was doing just that and getting us headed back. I gave the flight attendants their briefing and made a PA to the passengers explaining the situation. The first officer flew the ILS with weather of 500 ovc and 2 SM visibility. The first officer made a normal touchdown and we taxied to the gate. Arff was standing by but not needed. After landing the fuel quantity indication returned to normal. We had landed at 134;800 pounds; we had estimated 136;000. [A deadheading] first officer was on the jumpseat and helped with getting dispatch on the phone; checking for tripped; circuit breakers; and trouble shooting.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An MD-83 flight crew reported losing their fuel quantity indicating system in flight. They declared an emergency and returned to departure airport.

Narrative: In the climb we got 'all dashes' on all five fuel quantity displays. [I] also noticed that the right fuel flow was obviously incorrect; reading far too low or even dashes at times. Tried selecting 'B' fuel quantity indicating system; no help; all dashes. [I] tried abnormal procedure in QRH; which says to press annunciator test button; no help. I called Dispatch and advised them of the situation; advised them that I thought we had no option other than to return to [departure airport]. I advised Dispatch that it would be an overweight landing and that we would declare an emergency with ATC. While I was speaking with Dispatch the First Officer was doing just that and getting us headed back. I gave the flight attendants their briefing and made a PA to the passengers explaining the situation. The First Officer flew the ILS with weather of 500 OVC and 2 SM visibility. The First Officer made a normal touchdown and we taxied to the gate. ARFF was standing by but not needed. After landing the fuel quantity indication returned to normal. We had landed at 134;800 LBS; we had estimated 136;000. [A deadheading] First Officer was on the jumpseat and helped with getting Dispatch on the phone; checking for tripped; circuit breakers; and trouble shooting.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

Attributes
ACN	1003953
Time
Date	201204
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-83
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Indicating and Warning - Fuel System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Total 14900
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

An md-83 flight crew reported losing their fuel quantity indicating system in flight. They declared an emergency and returned to departure airport.