Narrative:

While on the arrival into iad we got a gen 2 off master caution message. My first officer (first officer) was pilot flying. I told him he had the radios and then looked up gen 2 off. The procedure in the QRH had me select the generator to off/reset then automatic. Looking at EICAS I was hoping to see the gen 2 off message extinguish. Instead both EICAS displays filled up with messages and the air driven generator deployed. After a few moments of processing what had happened I looked up and found my hand on gen switch 1. Power was restored to both generators. The APU was started in case gen 2 should fail again. ATC was informed but an emergency was not declared as power was restored.looking back I should have slowed down and gotten confirmation from my first officer that I had the correct switch and not be in such a hurry to complete the checklist.QRH improvement for gen 2 off.1. If APU is available for use....start (if the APU generator is running and a pilot accidentally switches off the wrong generator; there will be no interruption to electrical power and the air driven generator will not deploy.)2. Affected generator switch.....confirm then off/reset then automatic the preface in the QRH mentions that thrust levers and guarded switches should be confirmed before moving or selecting. When a pilot is using the QRH in flight (s)he is not reading the preface. They are using a checklist in the QRH to troubleshoot or solve a problem. Seems the word confirm should be used in the checklist since that is what the pilot is reading.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ-700 GEN 2 Master Caution alerted so the Captain; with the QRH; began the Reset procedure but turned GEN 1 OFF. GEN 1 was quickly re-establish now with the ADG deployed. Both generators were eventually re-established.

Narrative: While on the arrival into IAD we got a GEN 2 OFF master caution message. My First Officer (FO) was pilot flying. I told him he had the radios and then looked up GEN 2 OFF. The procedure in the QRH had me select the generator to OFF/RESET then AUTO. Looking at EICAS I was hoping to see the GEN 2 OFF message extinguish. Instead both EICAS displays filled up with messages and the ADG deployed. After a few moments of processing what had happened I looked up and found my hand on GEN switch 1. Power was restored to both generators. The APU was started in case GEN 2 should fail again. ATC was informed but an emergency was not declared as power was restored.Looking back I should have slowed down and gotten confirmation from my FO that I had the correct switch and not be in such a hurry to complete the checklist.QRH improvement for GEN 2 OFF.1. If APU is available for use....START (If the APU generator is running and a pilot accidentally switches off the wrong generator; there will be no interruption to electrical power and the ADG will not deploy.)2. Affected generator switch.....CONFIRM then OFF/RESET then AUTO The preface in the QRH mentions that thrust levers and guarded switches should be confirmed before moving or selecting. When a pilot is using the QRH in flight (s)he is not reading the preface. They are using a checklist in the QRH to troubleshoot or solve a problem. Seems the word confirm should be used in the checklist since that is what the pilot is reading.

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.