Narrative:

[I] ordered meal with coffee for myself and the first officer. When meal came up; line captain giving line check also entered cockpit; and both coffee cups were on meal tray. I handed the first officer his coffee leaving mine on tray; which I just plain forgot was there; primarily because I almost never get coffee with my meal. As I sat back down the tray tilted; coffee cup (complete with crew lid) fell off directly onto the center communication pedestal; with all liquid contents splashed into components. Immediate efforts by all three of us to sop up spill with all available towels were at best marginally successful. Immediate results appeared to be stuck mic on captain's side; and loss of all transmission capabilities with rather questionable reception of ATC. Took left audio control panel out of pedestal as it had received the direct hit from the coffee cup; and disconnected its cannon plug noting coffee draining from control panel box as it was removed. This eliminated stuck mic problem; and continued trouble shooting allowed return to normal communication capabilities utilizing right and observer audio control panels and observer audio selector. Situation communicated through ACARS to both dispatch and maintenance in detail. ATC also advised of potential communication issues for remainder of flight. Flight continued to landing with no further issues.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier Captain reports inadvertent coffee spill onto center pedestal and the number one communication panel. Communication is adversely affected initially but crew is able to remove the number one communication panel from the pedestal and disconnect its cannon plug to restore communication and continue to destination.

Narrative: [I] ordered meal with coffee for myself and the First Officer. When meal came up; Line Captain giving line check also entered cockpit; and both coffee cups were on meal tray. I handed the First Officer his coffee leaving mine on tray; which I just plain forgot was there; primarily because I almost never get coffee with my meal. As I sat back down the tray tilted; coffee cup (complete with crew lid) fell off directly onto the center communication pedestal; with all liquid contents splashed into components. Immediate efforts by all three of us to sop up spill with all available towels were at best marginally successful. Immediate results appeared to be stuck mic on Captain's side; and loss of all transmission capabilities with rather questionable reception of ATC. Took left audio control panel out of pedestal as it had received the direct hit from the coffee cup; and disconnected its cannon plug noting coffee draining from control panel box as it was removed. This eliminated stuck mic problem; and continued trouble shooting allowed return to normal communication capabilities utilizing right and observer audio control panels and observer audio selector. Situation communicated through ACARS to both Dispatch and Maintenance in detail. ATC also advised of potential communication issues for remainder of flight. Flight continued to landing with no further issues.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.