Spilled coffee forces 777 to divert

Published 10:12 am Wednesday, January 5, 2011

It wasn’t a hijacking.

It was just a case of spilled coffee.

A 777 pilot on a United Airlines flight accidentally spilled coffee on the jet’s radio equipment, which ultimately triggered several distress signals including code 7500, the code for a hijacking.

The Associated Press reports that the aircraft was traveling Monday from Chicago to Frankfurt. But the jet was forced to divert to Toronto, Canada after the hijacking signal went out.

Canada’s defense department was notified but the United crew was able to let them know there was no hijacking, just spilled coffee.