Let A be a Banach algebra. The flip on A ⊗ A is defined through A ⊗ A ∋ a⊗ b 7→ b⊗ a. If A is ultraprime, El(A), the algebra of all elementary operators on A, can be algebraically identified with A ⊗ A, so that the flip is well defined on El(A). We show that the flip on El(A) is discontinuous if A = K(E) for a reflexive Banach space E with the approximation property.
