If the Colorado Rockies 2024 regular season wasn’t bad enough, it has just gotten much worse. Multiple outlets have reported that an investigation is underway by the Federal Aviation Administration and United Airlines after a member of the Rockies traveling party was allegedly seen on video sitting in the captain’s chair in the plane’s cockpit during the team’s flight to Toronto on April 10. Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, there have been many federal regulations passed. One of these is being allowed to be on the flight deck. United’s flight operations manual requires the cockpit door to remain closed like it would on a normal commercial flight. This team is currently sitting at a miserable 4-15 record. The last thing this team needs is more drama circulating their way.
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
Rockies Staff Member Allegedly Sat Inside Cockpit on Flight
In the video recording, the door to the cockpit looks to be open. The camera pans around the cockpit. Another person, who was not part of the flight crew, walked into the doorway. It’s yet to remain seen who was in the recording in the cockpit on the flight. The Wall Street Journal, who reported about the video online, indcates that the video has been deleted since orginally being posted online. It still remains unclear how long the unauthorized Rockies staff member was in the cockpit.
United Airlines released a statement regarding the situation.
“We’re deeply disturbed by what we see in the video, which appears to show an unauthorized person in the flight deck at cruise altitude while the autopilot was engaged. 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.”
This is a developing story as the FAA confirmed it’s investigating the matter.
Main Photo: © Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
