Narrative:

During preflight; the first officer; was the first one that entered the cockpit. He started his normal routine; when he noticed an empty beer can in the garbage bag located behind the center pedestal in the cockpit. We immediately removed the garbage bag from the flight deck; realizing that it was in violation of the fom alcoholic beverage container policy. Initially; I thought a cleaner must have found the can in the back of the plane; and without thinking; saw the garbage bag in the flight deck and tossed it in there. The flight attendants heard our conversation; and saw the beer can as well. We all thought it was very odd; but didn't think it posed security risk; or threat; and I never thought for a second it was from one of my crew-members. I placed the bag in the jetway; and carried on with my preflight duties; aiming for an on time departure. Once airborne and after further discussion with the first officer (first officer); we decided there are any number of scenarios for how the beer can got there. The previous day; we had flown that same airplane. We had an open write up for an inoperative lav waste indication system. We had messaged mx (maintenance) about it; and as we were walking off the plane; we discussed it with the two gate agents on the jetway. They informed us that contract maintenance would have to be called out. I also recall seeing two cleaners come on board; I believe one male; and female as we got off the plane that night. The next day; after removing the garbage bag; I reviewed the mx log; and noted that maintenance had placed the MEL (minimum equipment list) on the plane for the lav waste indication system. So; maintenance had clearly been on board at some point between the time we blocked-in the previous night; until that next morning when we reported for work. Again; I am not sure how the beer can made its way into the flight deck garbage bag; but we might want to take a look at our security procedures. Also; it should be noted that it was a beer; which the flight attendants explained; we sell onboard our flights. All information is in the event narrative. Remind employees of the fom policy for alcoholic beverages beyond the cockpit door threshold. Review security procedures; and make sure there is someone over seeing contract maintenance when they are on board.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight Crew flying 737-900 aircraft found empty beer can in cockpit during pre-flight.

Narrative: During preflight; the First Officer; was the first one that entered the cockpit. He started his normal routine; when he noticed an empty beer can in the garbage bag located behind the center pedestal in the cockpit. We immediately removed the garbage bag from the flight deck; realizing that it was in violation of the FOM alcoholic beverage container policy. Initially; I thought a cleaner must have found the can in the back of the plane; and without thinking; saw the garbage bag in the flight deck and tossed it in there. The flight attendants heard our conversation; and saw the beer can as well. We all thought it was very odd; but didn't think it posed security risk; or threat; and I never thought for a second it was from one of my crew-members. I placed the bag in the jetway; and carried on with my preflight duties; aiming for an on time departure. Once airborne and after further discussion with the FO (First Officer); we decided there are any number of scenarios for how the beer can got there. The previous day; we had flown that same airplane. We had an open write up for an inoperative lav waste indication system. We had messaged MX (Maintenance) about it; and as we were walking off the plane; we discussed it with the two gate agents on the jetway. They informed us that Contract Maintenance would have to be called out. I also recall seeing two cleaners come on board; I believe one male; and female as we got off the plane that night. The next day; after removing the garbage bag; I reviewed the MX log; and noted that maintenance had placed the MEL (Minimum Equipment List) on the plane for the lav waste indication system. So; Maintenance had clearly been on board at some point between the time we blocked-in the previous night; until that next morning when we reported for work. Again; I am not sure how the beer can made its way into the flight deck garbage bag; but we might want to take a look at our security procedures. Also; it should be noted that it was a beer; which the flight attendants explained; we sell onboard our flights. All information is in the event narrative. Remind employees of the FOM policy for alcoholic beverages beyond the cockpit door threshold. Review security procedures; and make sure there is someone over seeing Contract Maintenance when they are on board.

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.