Narrative:

I noticed that the weather on the original release showed we needed an alternate for our destination; however; we did not have an alternate listed. I contacted dispatch and they sent me a new release. We prepared the aircraft while waiting for the new release. The new release was delivered to us just before closing the door. Since I had already checked most of the items on the original release; I didn't check the revised release as thoroughly as I would if it were the original release. I checked all of the basic items; to make sure that nothing had changed unexpectedly and to be sure that the alternate was on the new release. The weather and the alternate looked correct and acceptable. I checked the fuel on board against the fuel on the release; and it looked good. We completed the checklists and pushed back. After push back; my first officer noticed that dispatch had not put alternate fuel on the release. I immediately called dispatch and told them the situation. He gave us the new fuel numbers. We did not have adequate fuel to depart; so we returned to the gate; where we took on more fuel and got a new release and subsequently departed.the first suggestion would be for the release to be correct the first time. Of course; the second suggestion would be to slow down when things are not going as they should. I felt that I had taken the time to properly review the new release; but somehow; I missed this important item. I'm glad that my first officer was on the ball and caught it; although when we arrived the weather was well above minimum VMC; so safety would not have been a factor; and I stay on top of things well enough that if there was any concern due to the weather; I would have caught it early enough enroute to have had the opportunity to take whatever action necessary to make it so that safety would not have been compromised; even if it meant diverting to do so.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ-900 Captain discovered their release did not include a necessary destination alternate and requested a revised release from Dispatch. Although it arrived with the alternate added the First Officer noted no fuel had been added for the alternate only during taxi for takeoff. The flight returned for the required fuel.

Narrative: I noticed that the weather on the original release showed we needed an alternate for our destination; however; we did not have an alternate listed. I contacted Dispatch and they sent me a new release. We prepared the aircraft while waiting for the new release. The new release was delivered to us just before closing the door. Since I had already checked most of the items on the original release; I didn't check the revised release as thoroughly as I would if it were the original release. I checked all of the basic items; to make sure that nothing had changed unexpectedly and to be sure that the alternate was on the new release. The weather and the alternate looked correct and acceptable. I checked the fuel on board against the fuel on the release; and it looked good. We completed the checklists and pushed back. After push back; my First Officer noticed that Dispatch had not put alternate fuel on the release. I immediately called Dispatch and told them the situation. He gave us the new fuel numbers. We did not have adequate fuel to depart; so we returned to the gate; where we took on more fuel and got a new release and subsequently departed.The first suggestion would be for the release to be correct the first time. Of course; the second suggestion would be to slow down when things are not going as they should. I felt that I had taken the time to properly review the new release; but somehow; I missed this important item. I'm glad that my First Officer was on the ball and caught it; although when we arrived the weather was well above minimum VMC; so safety would not have been a factor; and I stay on top of things well enough that if there was any concern due to the weather; I would have caught it early enough enroute to have had the opportunity to take whatever action necessary to make it so that safety would not have been compromised; even if it meant diverting to do so.

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.