AIR SCARE: Pilot threatens to shoot captain over flight diversion

A Delta Air Lines pilot has been indicted for allegedly threatening to shoot the plane’s captain if the captain diverted the flight because of a passenger who needed medical attention. The man has been charged with interference with a flight crew – a felony offence punishable for 20 years in prison. Delta says the man no longer works for the airline.

Jonathan J. Dunn was indicted and charged with interfering with a flight crew over an incident that occurred during a flight in August 2022. The Transportation Department’s inspector general says Dunn, who was the first officer or co-pilot, threatened to shoot the captain after a disagreement over diverting the flight to take care of a passenger with a medical issue.

“Out of respect for the ongoing aviation authority investigation of this incident, Delta will refrain from commenting on this matter but will confirm that this First Officer is no longer employed at Delta,” the airline said in a statement Wednesday.

The brief indictment in federal district court in Utah said that Dunn “did use a dangerous weapon in assaulting and intimidating the crew member.”

Dunn was authorized by the Transportation Security Administration to carry a gun on board under a program created after the September 2001 terror attacks and designed to safeguard the cockpit from intruders.

The TSA said Wednesday that it “immediately” removed Dunn from the program “upon learning of his actions, and took away his equipment.”

TSA said pilots must be vetted and attend training at a federal law enforcement center in New Mexico to become what is called a federal flight deck officer.

Court records indicate that Dunn is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 16 in U.S. district court in Salt Lake City.

The pilot’s indictment came just a few days before an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot riding in the cockpit jump seat tried to shut down the engines of a Horizon Air jet in midflight. He was subdued by the captain and co-pilot and arrested after the plane diverted to Portland, Oregon.

That incident revived debate about how pilots are screened for mental health — largely by trusting that they will volunteer information that could raise safety concerns. Pilots are required during regular medical exams to disclose depression, anxiety, drug or alcohol dependence, and medications they take.