B717 (Formerly MD-95)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Confusion
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Aircraft
Upon climbout (5;000 FT) a spoiler fault alert appeared on the EAD. By going to the config page we saw that the spoilers were floating at about 5 degrees; and the speed brake level 0 alert also came up then. We followed the QRH and planned on a return after speaking to all parties involved (Operations; Dispatch; Maintenance; flight attendants; passengers; etc.). As directed by the QRH we landed at nearest suitable airport with an abundance of caution at flaps 25 and overweight we gathered as much info as possible and burned off a little bit of fuel to help with the smooth landing. The biggest problem encountered was the length of time and inability to find factored landing distance for a Flaps 25 landing with manual spoilers and at 114;000 LBS landing weight. We did our best to look up the information and so did Dispatch; to no avail. I had to use Captain's emergency authority and land with the configuration and runway length that was available (8;300 FT not including the displaced threshold). The landing was smooth and uneventful but it did require additional vigilance; as this was not a normal landing (flaps 25; 166 KTS landing speed; 113;000 LBS landing; manual spoilers and a less than 8;000 foot long runway). The passengers deplaned the aircraft normally and were thankful of the safe return; we (myself; the First Officer and passengers); after speaking with Dispatch; Maintenance; and Scheduling; boarded a different aircraft and made our way safely to [destination].It appears this problem occurred earlier in the morning and a new speed brake module was to blame. That one should have been removed and a new; new module should have been placed in the problematic module. We should not have been the guinea pigs to see if a new SECU would fix the problem. The bigger problem was the inability to find a factored landing distance for a Flaps 25 landing. Not even Dispatch had the capability of finding our landing distance; I had to use Captain's emergency authority; this is inexcusable! This has to be fixed and this data needs to be available post haste. How do we know if we are capable of landing on the runway at our intended airport? Should we have gone to [a different airport] and landed on the longest runway and tied up the whole system or was it safe to land at [departure airport] with less then 8;000 feet available? I had to use my best calculations available to me and then use Captain's emergency authority because it was the only recourse to land the airplane at the nearest airport. This best guess and best calculation should not play into the part of landing with factual data and actual landing distance based on the actual configuration at the time of landing; this must be rectified. Our crew did a great job of communicating and using all available resources to safely; out of an over abundance of caution; bring the aircraft back to the runway and on safe ground.
[Narrative 2 had no additional information]
B717-200 flight crew reported a spoiler fault that led to a return to departure airport. Crew mentioned difficulty getting accurate runway length requirements for their abnormal configuration.