B737 captain reported his first officer noticed spoilers on the right wing were partially deployed d...

Attributes
ACN	1057845
Time
Date	201212
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Component
Aircraft Component	Spoiler System
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 220 Flight Crew Total 23000 Flight Crew Type 13500
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Narrative:

During preflight; first officer noticed spoilers on right wing partially deployed despite speed brake handle fully stowed and no 'do not arm' light indicating any problem. Obviously; if it was not caught this could have produced an uncommanded roll during take off. I consider this a flight control malfunction under NTSB reporting guidelines. Maintenance stated this aircraft had a long history of this problem.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported his First Officer noticed spoilers on the right wing were partially deployed despite being commanded down. Maintenance reportedly stated aircraft had a long history of this.

Narrative: During preflight; First Officer noticed spoilers on right wing partially deployed despite speed brake handle fully stowed and no 'do not arm' light indicating any problem. Obviously; if it was not caught this could have produced an uncommanded roll during take off. I consider this a flight control malfunction under NTSB reporting guidelines. Maintenance stated this aircraft had a long history of this problem.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

B737 captain reported his first officer noticed spoilers on the right wing were partially deployed despite being commanded down. Maintenance reportedly stated aircraft had a long history of this.