Deleted Instagram video sparks FAA investigation of Rockies amid turbulent season

Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black.

The Colorado Rockies are off to a franchise-worst 4-15 start in 2024, a mark that has them tied at the bottom of the National League with the Miami Marlins.

An already turbulent season has become even more bumpy for the Rockies, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and United Airlines have opened an investigation into an April 10 flight chartered by the club.

In a since-deleted video posted to Instagram by Hensley Meulens, the hitting coach appears to be sitting in the pilot’s seat mid-flight and narrating, saying that he was “flying the plane” and joking that he would be “landing the plane.”

United Airlines released a statement regarding the incident, saying that it was “deeply disturbed” by the video and had suspended the pilots involved in the flight.

Following a 182-game playing career with three teams over seven seasons, Meulens began his coaching days with the San Francisco Giants in 2010. The 56-year-old served as the hitting coach for the Giants until 2017 and earned three World Series rings.

Meulens was then a candidate for the New York Yankees’ managerial opening in November 2017, before the team hired Aaron Boone. He served as the New York Mets bench coach in 2020 and the Yankees assistant hitting coach in 2022.

Meulens also led the Netherlands in the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) and was the country’s manager for the 2013 WBC and 2020 Olympic Baseball Qualifier.

He’s in his second season as the Rockies hitting coach.

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