Narrative:

Departed the active runway on the SID. Departure was normal till about 3;000 feet. After accelerating and cleaning up the aircraft we had a fuel imbalance caution message and a fuel channel 2 fail advisory message. We notified ATC and noticed we lost all fuel indication to the right fuel tank and total fuel indicator. I transferred control to my side as the first officer was flying at that time and I asked to reference the QRH. At this point most of the fuel was being transferred to the left wing and center tank. The aircraft was gradually rolling to the left with the fuel imbalance. After referencing the QRH ATC vectored us downwind for a landing. The first officer advised company and the flight attendants to notify them of the situation.the aircraft became unstable as it was difficult to keep the wings level. On the left turn from base to final it became difficult to bank right. ATC gave us priority and speed at our discretion. We determined it was going to be an overweight landing based on the amount we had on board during departure and estimated the total fuel onboard to compute our landing data. Upon landing the fire rescue team met us and I shut down engine 2 just in case there was a leak. Upon inspection by the fire department and advising us of no leaks we proceeded to the gate where we deplaned. The fire department monitored our brakes as they stated it was overheated on landing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-900 flight crew reported experiencing a gross fuel imbalance shortly after takeoff during climb out. The aircrew elected to return to the departure airport and land immediately as flight roll controllability was degrading.

Narrative: Departed the active runway on the SID. Departure was normal till about 3;000 feet. After accelerating and cleaning up the aircraft we had a fuel imbalance caution message and a fuel channel 2 fail advisory message. We notified ATC and noticed we lost all fuel indication to the right fuel tank and total fuel indicator. I transferred control to my side as the First Officer was flying at that time and I asked to reference the QRH. At this point most of the fuel was being transferred to the left wing and center tank. The aircraft was gradually rolling to the left with the fuel imbalance. After referencing the QRH ATC vectored us downwind for a landing. The First Officer advised company and the flight attendants to notify them of the situation.The aircraft became unstable as it was difficult to keep the wings level. On the left turn from base to final it became difficult to bank right. ATC gave us priority and speed at our discretion. We determined it was going to be an overweight landing based on the amount we had on board during departure and estimated the total fuel onboard to compute our landing data. Upon landing the fire rescue team met us and I shut down engine 2 just in case there was a leak. Upon inspection by the fire department and advising us of no leaks we proceeded to the gate where we deplaned. The fire department monitored our brakes as they stated it was overheated on landing.

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.