Colorado Rockies hitting coach Hensley Meulens was spotted in the cockpit of a United Airlines charter flight in a video that surfaced from the club’s recent road trip to Toronto. As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation and the pilots have been “withheld from service” for the time being.
Here’s Meulens, clear as day (well at night, but you know what I mean), in the cockpit of the United plane.
WILD story. As if the 2024 MLB season isn’t going badly enough for the Rockies, who are tied with the Marlins entering Friday’s slate for the worst record in the National League at 4-15. This off-field distraction certainly won’t help the cause.
Even though autopilot was engaged with Meulens in the pilot’s seat, this just feels like a bad idea by all involved. I don’t know what else to say. The strangest combination of people, places and words in a sports-related news story I’ve seen in a minute, though.
Can’t help but think of the movie Airplane! when it comes to this bizarre incident. Are there any other scenes from TV or movies in a cockpit that are as good as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar trying to convince a kid that he’s a copilot named Roger Murdock? Not for my money.
I remember going into the cockpit as a kid, but that was pre-9/11. To do so nowadays is basically unthinkable. I’m sure there are a bunch of TikToks from the cockpit nowadays or something to simulate the experience.
Other than a cool Friday Night Lights Super Bowl commercial starring Kyle Chandler, it’s been a bit of a tough run for United Airlines in the mass media. They’ve had multiple flights beset by mechanical issues in recent months, and while these incidents are few and far between, the saying, “no press is bad press” most definitely does not apply there.
Will be interesting to see what the FAA investigation turns up about why the pilots/crew thought it was cool to let Meulens into the cockpit and captain the plane for a little while.
