MD11 captain reported encountering an asymmetric spoiler issue during descent. Captain stated the sp...

Attributes
ACN	1703943
Time
Date	201911
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-11
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Speedbrake/Spoiler
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

ATC assigned [us to] descend to 8;000 ft; reduce airspeed to 210 K. I deployed the spoilers and aircraft began an immediate left turn; we were navigating straight ahead. I disconnected the auto pilot and the aircraft immediately rolled into a left 45 degree bank; I stowed the spoilers and proceeded to turn back right; but not before we turned approximately 40-50 degrees left from our initial heading. ATC asked about our heading; and we advised asymmetric deployment of spoilers. Upon landing no spoiler deployment on the right side according to the configuration page. We wrote the problem up and maintenance could not duplicate; we suspect the spoilers were frozen; it was light mist at departure airport.we are assuming the spoilers were frozen due to precipitation at the departure airport.that would be flight operations issue as there is very little a crew can do to prevent frozen spoilers in-flight.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD11 Captain reported encountering an asymmetric spoiler issue during descent. Captain stated the spoilers may have been 'frozen' due to precipitation at departure airport.

Narrative: ATC assigned [us to] descend to 8;000 ft; reduce airspeed to 210 K. I deployed the spoilers and aircraft began an immediate left turn; we were navigating straight ahead. I disconnected the Auto Pilot and the aircraft immediately rolled into a left 45 degree bank; I stowed the spoilers and proceeded to turn back right; but not before we turned approximately 40-50 degrees left from our initial heading. ATC asked about our heading; and we advised asymmetric deployment of spoilers. Upon landing no spoiler deployment on the right side according to the configuration page. We wrote the problem up and Maintenance could not duplicate; we suspect the spoilers were frozen; it was light mist at departure airport.We are assuming the spoilers were frozen due to precipitation at the departure airport.That would be Flight Operations issue as there is very little a crew can do to prevent frozen spoilers in-flight.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

MD11 captain reported encountering an asymmetric spoiler issue during descent. Captain stated the spoilers may have been 'frozen' due to precipitation at departure airport.