Coffee spill triggers hijack alert in Canada

A pilot's spilled coffee accidentally triggered a hijacking alert and caused a transatlantic flight to make an unscheduled stop in Canada.

United Airlines Flight 940 from Chicago to Frankfurt was diverted to Toronto's Pearson International Airport, said a Transport Canada report.

The coffee spilt on radio equipment sent out distress signals including code 7500, which means hijacking or unlawful interference.

The report says Canada's defence department was notified, but that with the help of United dispatch staff the flight crew confirmed it to be a communication issue and not a hijacking.

The report on Transport Canada's website said the US Federal Aviation Administration reported that United's corporate office had indicated that the pilot "had inadvertently squawked a 7500 code after spilling coffee on the aircraft's radio equipment, which interfered with the communications equipment."

United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson had said that the pilot chose to divert the flight rather than cross the Atlantic Ocean while experiencing a communications problem.

United did not return a call to comment on the reported coffee mishap.

The Boeing 777 was carrying 241 passengers and 14 crew members. Johnson said United flew them back to Chicago on another plane and put them up in hotel rooms overnight before they were scheduled to resume their flight to Germany.