CHICAGO- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and United Airlines (UA) are currently conducting an investigation following an incident where a member of the Colorado Rockies’ traveling party was reportedly filmed sitting in the captain’s chair in the cockpit of the team’s aircraft during their flight on April 10, as per the Wall Street Journal.
As stated in the report, the Rockies were traveling to Toronto on a charter flight operated by United when the video footage was captured.
United Cockpit Breach
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, federal regulations regarding access to the flight deck were tightened. United’s flight operations manual stipulates that the cockpit door must remain closed as it would during a standard commercial flight.
A video, purportedly shared by a member of the Rockies’ staff on Instagram, allegedly depicted an individual seated in the pilot’s seat with the first officer beside them in the cockpit.
The cockpit door seemed to be ajar, and as the camera scanned the cockpit, another individual, who did not appear to be a flight crew member, entered the doorway.
Although the video was removed from the individual’s account, a screen-recorded version of the original post had circulated on X.
Video Went Viral
According to the Wall Street Journal, the video had also been uploaded to YouTube, and it remains unclear how long the unauthorized person had been in the cockpit.
“We are profoundly troubled by the content of the video, which seems to depict an unauthorized individual in the flight deck at cruising altitude while the autopilot was activated,” United Airlines conveyed to the media in a statement.
“Given that this constitutes a blatant breach of our safety and operational protocols, we have notified the FAA about the incident and have suspended the pilots from duty as we initiate an inquiry.”
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