Regional Jet 900 (CRJ900)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Physiological - Other
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Aircraft
Upon arrival at the airplane; I noticed that the airplane had a brand new logbook and it appeared that it had spent the night at the Maintenance Hangar doing routine work. We set up the airplane and got everything ready for the flight and my First Officer mentioned that she had a very bad headache; I asked her if she wanted anything for it and she [attributed it to] possibly being dehydrated. We were a full flight and pushed back a few minutes late but everything seemed normal; First Officer was Pilot Flying. We taxied to Runway and started the right engine as we were approaching the runway; again nothing seemed out of the ordinary.Once we lined up for takeoff; I transferred controls of the aircraft to the FO (First Officer) and we were on our way. Autopilot was engaged at around 800 feet and we started turning heading 025 and I noticed a burning oil smell coming out of the main vents in the flight deck. We continued our climb; checklists were finished and were on a climb to 8000 ft. I made a comment that there was a very strong burning smell and she agreed. As a first troubleshooting action; I turned off the Left Pack for about a minute or two and the smell subsided; FO pulled the ECS EICAS page and we discussed the possible source of the smell. I would like to note for the record that it is very normal as we all know to sometimes get that smell if the temperature is turned up on the packs and we initially thought it was just the 'usual' pack smell. Once the Left Pack was turned back on; the smell returned.As we were climbing through 10;000 feet; I told the FO that I was going to check with the Cabin to ask them about the smell. I called the main cabin and Flight Attendants both said they didn't smell anything. I told them that we were smelling something up front and just to keep me posted. I ACARS Dispatch and said that we had a very strong fume smell in the flight deck. I believe by this time we were around 16;000 and we were cleared to 17;000. At that instant; the main cabin called the Flight Deck. FA advised me that the FA who was working the front galley wasn't feeling well and was getting a headache. I acknowledged and told them we were going back to [departure airport]. I believe it was at this point that I donned my oxygen mask and told FO to don hers and get on 100% O2. I returned to the radios and we were at 17;000 and told Center that we needed to return immediately. [I advised] that 'We are on Oxygen and have fumes in the flight deck.' They gave us a left turn direct and I believe a descent to 11;000. It is extremely hard to be 100% certain because I didn't realize how much our alertness was being affected by the fumes. It was extremely difficult to perform tasks due to the effects of the fumes.I managed to load direct [FIX] after [the First Officer] saw that I was having some difficulties. Once we were established on a direct path and I had the ILS loaded; I called the Main Cabin with the EMER Button. I briefed the best I could....I had to really concentrate and make sure I was reading the correct checklist; I was reading but things weren't registering. Once I was more mentally clear; I ran the checklist and stopped since we were above 10;000 ft. I told FO that I was going to dump the cabin to evacuate any fumes and she agreed but we waited until we got lower. I quickly called the back and told them that we were going to Emergency Depressurize the cabin but I wasn't going to drop the masks since we were below 10;000 ft. Once at 9;000 ft I ran the remaining checklist. We pushed the Emergency Depressurization button at around 9000 feet. We got lower altitude and we started configuring the airplane while we were about 10 miles right base. We were at 4;000 ft with Flaps 20 and 180 knots. I stated that I felt that I was missing something so she recommended to run through the checklist out loud and she would back me up which we did. I finished it by silently running the part of fumes suspected fromair conditioning system.As we got closer to the airport on the right base; FO disconnected the A/P and hand flew the remainder of the approach. On rollout we were asked where we wanted to park. I asked for a place where we could open the door and get the passengers and crew checked out; so ATC suggested to continue to the gate which we agreed since the cabin was clear of smoke/fumes and no evacuation was needed. We pulled into the gate and were greeted by an army of fire/rescue which I was very glad to see. We continued on O2 until the aircraft was secured/shut down. Firefighters started getting the passengers and FAs out of the airplane while another one checked the flight deck for fumes and got a briefing by us. All was cleared and we requested to be taken to the hospital since we were all lightheaded; nauseous and feeling extremely disoriented.
We noticed a potent smell coming from the left packs. It was a burning smell we thought was associated with the cabin and flight deck temperatures being turned up high due to the colder temperatures outside. I was beginning to experience difficulty concentrating with a very light-headed sensation. The Captain told me to put on my oxygen mask at 100% Oxygen. Once our masks were on; we confirmed that I would continue as Pilot Flying and he would begin coordinating our return.
CRJ-900 Flight Crew reported that they returned to departure airport after suffering ill effects from fumes emanating from the Left Pack after takeoff.