Flight forced to perform emergency landing in Shannon Airport because pilot spilled coffee in the cockpit

The incident occurred in February of this year.

Earlier this year, an airplane was forced to perform an emergency landing to Shannon Airport because the pilot spilled coffee in the cockpit. The flight departed from Frankfurt airport in Germany and was scheduled to fly to Cancun in Mexico, before the incident took place. Coffee was spilled onto the commander’s audio control panel (ACP), which resulted in the failure of his and his co-pilot's ACPs. During the failures, the ACPs became very hot and produced an electrical burning smell and smoke. The commander then decided to divert to Shannon Airport in Clare. The failure of two ACPs caused significant communication difficulty for the flight crew. Action has since been taken in an attempt to reduce the chance of spillage. It is normal for the flight crew to be served coffee during the flight, and most of the liquid fell onto the commander’s lap but the small amount that spilled onto the commander’s ACP was enough to do significant damage. A report of the incident revealed that during the diversion, the flight crew alternately used supplementary oxygen, with one pilot on oxygen at all times. You can read this report in full here.