Spilt coffee triggers hijack alert

Toronto: A US flight from Chicago to the German city of Frankfurt, with 255 people on board, reportedly made an emergency landing in Canada because the pilot spilled his coffee in the cockpit.

The United Airlines Flight 940 was diverted to Toronto just after 10 PM on Monday night, after the plane developed a communications problem, according to an airline spokesman.

But, Transport Canada, the agency that regulates transportation in Canada, has claimed that the malfunction was due to the Boeing 777's pilot dumping his cup of coffee on the
plane's communication equipment, the 'Daily Mail' online said.

The spilled liquid caused the plane's radio to send out transponder code (or 'squawk') 7500, denoting hijacking; The crew were able to stop the faulty squawk, but decided to
land anyway, the report said.

The 241 passengers and 14 crew members were put in a different aeroplane once on the ground in Toronto, flown back to Chicago, put up in a hotel and then flown to Frankfurt on
Tuesday afternoon, it said.

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When asked about coffee triggering the diversion and mass delay, United Airlines avoided the subject.

"Our review of the communications issue encountered on flight 940 continues, so it's too soon to comment on any particulars that led to the captain's decision to divert,"
United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson was quoted as saying.

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"But important to note the crew did maintain contact with controllers, and the decision to divert to Toronto was the captain's," he added. The name of the coffee-spilling pilot has not been released.