Regional Jet 900 (CRJ900)
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Troubleshooting; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Aircraft; Human Factors
Captain was flying and shortly after takeoff we got L PITOT HEAT caution message. We ran all normal checklists and continued to climb out and held off on running the QRH until I think climbing through 10;000 after all normal checklists were completed. We then ran the QRH which had us switch to ADC (Air Data Computer) 2 on the source select panel. We double checked the QRH to make sure we were making the correct selection and after selecting ADC 2 we lost both flight directors. The autopilot stayed engaged. We initially were not expecting to lose both flight directors and so we switched back to the normal position on the source select panel to reread the QRH and make sure that we were not doing anything incorrectly. In the meantime we had contacted Dispatch and [Maintenance Control] to get more information. Maintenance had us look up an MEL 30-XX-XX to see if we could operate under that MEL. I'm assuming they were asking so they could determine if we should continue the flight. We told them it was unlikely. We also confirmed that we were on the correct QRH and to complete the procedure and again switched to ADC 2. This time we had both flight directors and had transferred control to the FO (First Officer) side. We received L and R FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) fault 2 and RUD LIMIT FAULT status messages per the QRH. At this point we got a message from Dispatch asking us if we had received an ACARS about an air return. We had not it was the first message we got concerning the return so we confirmed they wanted us to return back to ZZZ. We initiated the return with ATC and notified the flight attendants and passengers. During this time we had also noticed that all of our fuel data and times were no longer being calculated on the MFD (Multi-function Flight Display). We were uncertain as to why we no longer had fuel and time data but at that point we were already descending into ZZZ. The other odd thing that we were unsure of was our heading bug would no longer turn at all on the MFD so we had to disengage the autopilot to initiate a turn back to ZZZ. We calculated fuel with our fuel remaining and received our new release with fuel burns while we were descending into ZZZ. We were able to remain VMC for the descent and approach into ZZZ. The last thing that we were unsure as to why it was happening is the LOC and GS were both flagged on the Captain side as we were turning to intercept the localizer to 26R. We were on a visual approach at this point with the runway in sight. We safely landed and returned to the gate.  One mistake I believe I made as Captain was continuing to fly rather than transferring control to the FO. We debriefed this after getting to the gate and we both agreed that this would have made things go a little smoother. The FO said that he regretted not speaking up and suggesting he take control. We agreed that with the heading bug not working might have been why the Captain continued to fly the aircraft but would have made much more sense to have the FO take control.
CRJ-900 Captain reported a pitot heat fault shortly after takeoff resulting in a return to the departure airport.