Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 554; Flight Crew Type 14200
Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
At the gate in ZZZ; I noticed there was no tape on the center Pedestal Gap. The tape is supposed to stop paper from slipping through a gap and ending down under the pedestal. I knew I had just read in a Safety Notice that Maintenance would be correcting the problem. I called Maintenance and told them there was no tape on the pedestal to block the gap and to see if they could send out a Maintainer; and they said they could. They also said they knew of no requirement for the tape or that there was even a need for it.When arriving at the aircraft I discussed the issue and the Maintainer said they were not familiar with the problem. I said I had called the Chief Pilot on Call and he was trying to find the article I had read; since he had also just recently read it. I asked the Maintainer to open the panel. He did and we were both glad that he did. For the next five minutes; he pulled over 50 sheets of paper out from the pedestal wiring and others stuck against the pedestal framing. Many sheets were brown from heat and brittle. I then noticed that the panel he removed actually had tape on it. Scotch tape that had been broken; allowing sheets to slip under the panel. The Maintainer took a picture of the emptied area. He then taped the area with a black tape the looked like Duck-tape but thinner. He took the papers to show his supervisor.
B737 MAX 8 Captain reported over 50 sheets of paper were found underneath the center pedestal; which had slipped through a gap that is usually taped over.