Officials are investigating a video that showed a Colorado Rockies coach sitting in the cockpit during a team flight— a major security violation.
The incident unfolded on a charter flight operated by United Airlines on April 10 from Denver to Toronto, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Team hitting coach Hensley Meulens posted the clip on his Instagram, which was later deleted after it circulated online.
In the clip, Meulens is seen sitting behind the controls in the captain’s seat in the cockpit.
He gives the camera a thumbs up and the person filming pans to a uniformed United flight officer in the co-pilot seat. He said, “I’m going to land the plane tonight,” as he points to some of the flight controls and mimics the pushing the plane’s yoke.
The FAA said it was investigating the incident, noting that federal regulations restrict access to the flight deck to specific individuals.
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.”
“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” the airline said.
NBC News has reached out other the Colorado Rockies and Meulens for comment, but did not immediately hear back Friday.