'A Clear Violation': MLB Coach's Cockpit Video Triggers FAA Investigation
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
The Federal Aviation Administration is not laughing at a video posted by a Colorado Rockies coach that showed him in one pilot’s seat as the team flew to Canada recently.
Colorado Rockies hitting coach Hensley Meulens was videoed in the cockpit of a United Airlines charter flight to Toronto earlier this month.
“Had some fun in the cockpit on our flight from Denver to Toronto,” Meulens wrote in the caption of his since-deleted Instagram video, according to Yahoo Sports.
It is not from the angle of a drunk hitting coach on a really bad team, but rather United Airlines getting fined as they are entrusted with the lives of everyone on the plane. We do not want anything to happen as need the @Rockies in the league for some guaranteed wins!!
— William Bonar (@WilliamGBonar) April 19, 2024
“Thanks to the captain and the first officer of our United charter that allowed me this great experience,” he wrote.
A copy of the video posted to X included multiple voices speaking and showed Meulens sitting in one seat as he joked about landing the plane.
United Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating how a passenger gained access to the cockpit of a 757 at cruise altitude in violation of the company’s policy and FAA regulations. pic.twitter.com/E2yQwSbEy8
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) April 19, 2024
“Flying the plane, here to Toronto,” Meulens said.
“I’m going to land the plane tonight, so relax,” he said, before noting that the plane was currently flying at 35,000 feet.
“I’m going to start descending it pretty soon,” he said.
In the video, he reached toward the controls but never quite touched them.
United said, it was “deeply disturbed by what we see in that video, which appears to show an unauthorized person in the flight deck at cruise altitude while the autopilot was engaged,” according to NBC News.
“As a clear violation of our safety and operational policies, we’ve reported the incident to the FAA and have withheld the pilots from service while we conduct an investigation,” United said.
Look, it’s one thing for the Rockies to be a joke on the field. It’s another to let a coach fly a charter plane. What a horribly embarrassing organization.
— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) April 19, 2024
A representative of the Federal Aviation Administration said it does not “comment on the details of open investigations,” according to ESPN.
The FAA representative said, “Federal regulations restrict flight deck access to specific individuals.”
The team said Friday it had no comment on the incident, according to the Denver Post.
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