I know – we’ve all heard plenty about those American Airlines flights with unbolted seats (if you haven’t, we’ve written plenty about it). But now that American Airlines has finished its inspections of 48 planes to determine why there were rows of loosey-goosey seats on its Boeing 757s, it’s good to know that it’s partly our fault for being such sloppy, spill-prone passengers. Wait, what?

American Airlines said earlier that the problem with the seats lay in how they had been installed in the first place, blaming a device called a saddle clamp for not doing its job correctly. But a spokeswoman now says a contributing factor is the spilled soda and coffee on the planes that “gunked up” seat locking mechanisms (called “seat lock plunger mechanisms”) over time, reports CNN.

There was enough of said gunk to muck up the track on the ground “that locks the seats to the aircraft floor,” she said.

Beyond you being extra careful not to splash Bloody Mary mix everywhere, the airline isn’t going to let such malfunctions happen anymore, said the spokeswoman.

“We are taking extra steps to ensure that the seats do not dislodge from the track.”

Sippy cups for everyone.

American Airlines says spilled soda, coffee helped cause sticky moments [CNN]

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