MD-82
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Troubleshooting
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Maintenance Action; General Release Refused / Aircraft Not Accepted
Aircraft; Procedure; Company Policy
While leveled off at 23;000 FT with autopilot ON; ATC gave us a turn direct. We noticed the autopilot disconnected and I (pilot flying) took over the controls noticing the ailerons were jammed. I could not move the ailerons while we were at wings level flight. I brought it to the Captain's attention and; while I had the radios and the controls; I asked him to reference the QRH for Aileron Jam. He referenced the QRH and informed me that there was nothing available for any type of aileron malfunction. By applying 20 to 30 LBS of force; the Captain was able to break the aileron jam; even though the ailerons were binding. We continued climbing to our final cruising altitude. Later; ATC gave us another turn (we had wings level and autopilot ON) and the autopilot disconnected again. The ailerons were jammed again. I could not turn the ailerons. The Captain took over the controls and broke the aileron jam. We; again; could move the ailerons but they were still binding. A third aileron jam happened later; again; when autopilot was ON and was not able to turn on the routing for the next fix. This time; I (First Officer); was able to break the jam by applying 20 to 30 LBS of force. Ailerons were still binding. I; twice; told the Captain that we should declare an emergency with ATC. He decided not to do it since the ailerons were still operable. Dispatch was advised of the situation. During the descent; approach; and landing there were no aileron jams or bindings at speeds of less than 190 KTS. On the ground the ailerons worked fine. Dispatch/Maintenance Control sent a Local Mechanic for assistance; and a rescue flight was sent to our destination. After looking over the logbook once again after the flight; aircraft had three previous write ups in relation to aileron binding. Hours later; the aircraft was ferried back to a maintenance base by another crew for a maintenance check and a test flight (days later). Looking at the history of the aircraft in the logbook prior to the flight; the aircraft had 3 aileron write ups. We made the 4th report after this event. The aircraft should have been grounded the first time this occurred. The aircraft should have returned to revenue service only after passing a test-flight. The aircraft should have been released into revenue service not only by Dispatch/Maintenance Control and Flight Operations. There are no abnormal procedures in our QRH for an aileron jam or any aileron malfunction. Those procedures need to be added to our QRH for standardization purposes. A declaration of emergency should be mandatory for this type of problem.
The Reporter stated that a faulty servo and lack of some aileron component lubrication caused the binding. There was a suspicion about frozen water in an actuator but the actuator was removed; placed in a freezer and a subsequent testing found no fault.
An MD-82's ailerons jammed three times during flight so the aircraft was removed from service; ferried to a maintenance station and the crew later discovered three previous similar anomalies on the aircraft. A servo fault and lack of lubrication are believed to be the causes.