Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Diverted; General Maintenance Action; General Declared Emergency
Aircraft
Upon arrival at 20;000 FT we had a (right) bleed duct red warning message. The First Officer was at the controls; so he took the radios as well; and I ran the QRH procedure. At this time we had just left IMC and icing conditions; so the cowl anti-ice system was running at the time that the message occurred. The QRH prompted for the bleed valves to be shut down manually; and for any source of anti-icing to be turned off; therefore depressurizing the aircraft; descending to 10;000 FT and finding a nearest suitable field to land. After following the QRH in its entirety; we declared an emergency; descended and found the nearest suitable airport was 80 miles away. After communicating our intentions to the flight attendants; passengers and company; we proceeded to land in [diversion airport] without further incident. The passengers were deplaned and taken inside the terminal.After returning to the aircraft the next morning; Maintenance found the message to be caused by an open loop. So it was determined to be an indication problem. The fact that we got the warning message is what prompted us to make the decision that we made. At that point it was impossible for us to know if the message was a false indication or not. So we followed the procedures outlined in the QRH; declared an emergency and landed at the nearest suitable airport.
CRJ-700 Captain reported diverting to nearest suitable in response to a bleed overheat that later was determined to be a false warning.