FAA launches investigation after MLB coach posts video from cockpit during flight

The Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an investigation after Colorado Rockies hitting coach Hensley Meulens posted a video from inside the cockpit during a team charter flight, according to KUSA in Denver.

United Airlines, operator of the flight, told KUSA that the airline is "deeply disturbed by what we see in that video" in “a clear violation of our safety and operational policies," referring to Meulens as "an unauthorized person in the flight deck" en route to Toronto.

According to the airline, Meulens' cockpit visit happened at cruising altitude when the auto-pilot was engaged.

In the now-deleted video Meulens shared on Instagram, he is sitting in one of the pilots' seats and jokes about how he's going to land the plane that night – while another flight officer looks on from the cockpit's other seat.

The FAA confirmed its investigation to KUSA, but noted that they don't comment on the specifics of ongoing investigations.

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United told KUSA that the pilots have been "withheld" from flying while the airline conducts its own investigation.

A native of Curaçao, Meulens, 56, played from 1989-2000 in Major League Baseball, Japan and Korea. He was the San Francisco Giants' hitting coach from 2010-2019 – winning three World Series titles – and has since coached for the New York Mets and New York Yankees before joining Colorado's staff prior to the 2023 season.