This is unbelievable: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/05/canada.flight.diverted/
From the first paragraph of the article:
“A United Airlines flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany, was diverted to Toronto this week after the pilot dumped a cup of coffee on the plane’s communication’s equipment. The unwanted liquid triggered a series of emergency codes, including one for a hijacking, according to Transport Canada, the agency that regulates transportation in Canada.”
Seriously? You couldn’t find a travel mug with a lid on it? Is this really what’s going on in cockpits of airplanes? Ayiee. My fear of flying just notched up another level. I mean, really. An open cup of coffee next to the control panel of an airplane soaring through the sky with several hundred people on board?? If this doesn’t worry you, that’s great. I wish I could say the same.
Obviously I am glad the pilot made the choice to divert the plane in this situation. Better safe than sorry. But still, it never should have happened in the first place. Find a Thermos…drink it before you fly…anything but leaving a cup of coffee next to vital controls on the aircraft DURING THE FLIGHT!
Thank goodness this didn’t cause the entire airplane to malfunction. Very happy about that. Still, I’m going to be watching what the flight attendants bring to the pilots the next time I step on a plane. Maybe I’ll bring a spare mug with me. You know, just in case it’s coffee time in the cockpit again.
positively second 