PUB DEFICIENCY ON DC-9-80 MEL REQUIREMENTS.

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DC9 MEL 27-20 INBOARD GND SPOILER SYS: THE MEL FOR THE DC9 AT ACR LISTS SPOILER ACTUATOR AND INBOARD GND SPOILERS. ON PREFLT WE HAD A GND SPOILER PANEL STICK UP AND WOULD NOT COME DOWN UNLESS HYD PRESSURE WAS APPLIED. OUR CHK CALLS FOR THE HYD PRESS TO BE BLED OFF AND THE PANELS COME DOWN. THIS WAS A REPEAT GRIPE ON THIS AIRPLANE; BUT MEL 27-20 HAD NOT BEEN USED IN THE PAST TO DEFER THE PROB AND FLY THE AIRPLANE. WE LOOKED ALONG WITH THE MECH IF THIS SPOILER PANEL WAS DEFERABLE. MEL 27-20 LISTS INBOARD GND SYS AND NO CREW ACTION OR PENALTY OF PERFORMANCE IS LISTED. MAINT CTL AND THE ON-SITE MECH CONFERRED AND DECIDED TO DEFER THIS L SPOILER UNDER MEL 27-20. HE HAD SOME PROB WITH LOCATING A COMMON PLUG TO BE DISCONNECTED AND HIS ACTION ALSO LEFT THE HYD PWR TO THE INBOARD SPOILERS OFF. SINCE; ON THE DC9; THE INBOARD FLT SPOILERS AND INBOARD GND SPOILERS ARE THE SAME PANEL; AND IT WAS LISTED IN THE MEL AS DEFERABLE WE WERE OKAY TO FLY THIS AIRPLANE; WE THOUGHT. AFTER ARRIVING AT ILN MY CHIEF PLT INFORMED ME THAT THE MEL DEFERRAL THAT WE USED FOR THE STUCK SPOILER PANEL WAS PROBABLY NOT LEGAL BECAUSE OUR DC9'S DO NOT HAVE THIS SPECIFIC SYS OF 'INBOARD GND SPOILER SYS' INSTALLED; AND THAT BY DEFERRING THE INBOARD SPOILER THE WAY WE DID; WE DISABLED THE INBOARD FLT SPOILERS ALSO AND THEY ARE NOT DEFERRABLE IN THE MEL. I'M NOT A MECH. WE HAD AN INBOARD SPOILER PANEL STICKING IN THE GND POS 60 DEGS UP. WE FOUND SIMILAR VERBIAGE IN THE MEL TO WHAT OUR PROB WAS AND IT LOOKED TO ME AND MAINT THAT OUR PROB WAS DEFERRABLE. NO PROBS WITH FLYING THE AIRPLANE ENSUED. TO CORRECT THIS PROB A CLEARER DESCRIPTION OF WHAT IS AN IS NOT DEFERRABLE SHOULD BE LISTED IN THE DC-9 MEL WITH REGARD TO GNDED FLT SPOILERS.