Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; General Maintenance Action
Procedure; Weather; Aircraft
We got to the aircraft to find Maintenance already on board. The inbound crew had an ANTI-ICE DUCT caution message that came on after they had landed. Maintenance said they had found no issues and reset the system and that is was good for dispatch. After Maintenance signed off and cleared the aircraft for service we loaded up and departed. The weather was overcast and we entered the clouds at about 10;000 FT or so and encountered light icing. Passing through about 12;000 FT we received an ANTI-ICE DUCT warning message that quickly extinguished and was replaced by an ANTI-ICE DUCT caution message. As the First Officer was going through the appropriate QRH procedure; I made the decision that we would need to quickly get a lower altitude and return to the airport; due to the fact that we now were without icing protection on the wings. I did not think that it warranted declaring an emergency; but I did notify the Controller that we needed to return without undue delay. This also required that we would have to land over max landing weight. Due to the conditions we were flying in; with the high potential for icing; the First Officer and I decided that this was the best course of action. We landed without incident and returned to the gate. Maintenance pulled the aircraft out of service for repairs and we received a new aircraft with which to continue the flight.The aircraft had already had issues with the anti-ice system prior to use taking it. I think that the problem that was encountered by the previous crew should have made Maintenance dig a little deeper into the problem and take the aircraft off line. I am not saying that our Maintenance does a bad job by any means....I think they do an awesome job. I sometimes think that there is tremendous pressure put on them to simply 'clear' or 'reset' a system; just to get a flight out. I have had similar issues in the past that have resulted in returns to field; and or diversions that might have otherwise been avoided.
CRJ900 Captain reports being dispatched in an aircraft that had previously been written up for an ANTI-ICE DUCT caution message. Maintenance could find no faults and reset the system. Upon activating wing anti ice after departure the caution returned and the flight returned to the departure airport.