Pilot's coffee spill leads to hijack alert on US flight

A PILOT'S spilled coffee triggered a hijacking alert and caused a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Frankfurt to make an unscheduled stop in Canada.

A Transport Canada report said United Flight 940 was diverted to Toronto late on Monday and landed safely at Pearson International Airport.

The coffee spill caused distress signals to go out, including code 7500, which means hijacking or unlawful interference.

The report said Canada's defence department was notified, but the flight crew confirmed it to be a communication issue and not a hijacking.

The report by Transport Canada said the US Federal Aviation Administration found United's corporate office had indicated the pilot "inadvertently squawked a 7500 code after spilling coffee on the aircraft's radio equipment".

"The flight crew had advised they had communication problems and subsequently reported they had some navigation problems as well and, from there, the pilot in the command diverted the flight on to Toronto," Maryse Durette, a Transport Canada spokeswoman, said yesterday.

United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson acknowledged one of three cockpit crew members caused the mishap by spilling a drink.

"It was a beverage. During light turbulence one of the crew members' beverages spilled which then caused issues with the aircraft's communications equipment," Mr Johnson said.

Mr Johnson said the crew was in contact with air traffic control throughout. He said the pilot elected to divert rather than cross the Atlantic while experiencing a communications problem.

The Boeing 777 was carrying 241 passengers and 14 crew members.