A former Delta co-pilot was federally indicted earlier this month, accused of threatening to shoot the captain of a commercial flight last year if he diverted the plane because a passenger on board may have suffered a medical emergency. the authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
A grand jury in Utah indicted Jonathan Dunn on Oct. 18 for interfering with a flight crew, according to court documents obtained by CBS News.
The alleged incident occurred on an Aug. 22, 2022 flight, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General said in a news release Tuesday, but did not name the airline from which the flight departed or its destination. However, a Delta Air Lines spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that Dunn was working for Delta as a first officer at the time of the incident.
Click here to view related media.
Click to expand
According to the inspector general, Dunn, the co-pilot, “had a disagreement” with the captain, who may have wanted to divert the flight “due to a medical incident involving a passenger.”
Dunn then allegedly “told the captain that they would be shot multiple times” if the flight was diverted, the inspector general said.
Officials did not provide any further information on how the situation progressed.
Dunn was authorized to carry a weapon through the Transportation Safety Administration’s Federal Flight Deck Officer program, the inspector general said. Federal Flight Deck Officers are pilots authorized by the TSA to be armed in the cockpit on domestic flights. To do this, they undergo special training and receive a TSA-issued weapon to defend the flight deck against a hijacking attempt.
The two-page indictment, obtained by CBS News on Tuesday, alleges that Dunn “assaulted and intimidated a crew member of an aircraft … using a dangerous weapon to attack and intimidate the crew member.”
In a statement Tuesday evening, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration told CBS News, “TSA is aware of an incident involving a Federal Flight Deck Officer.”
The agency said Dunn had been removed from the FFDO program but could not comment further due to the “pending investigation.”
Delta told CBS News in a statement Tuesday evening that Dunn is no longer employed by the airline and had no further comment pending the outcome of the investigation.
Felicia Martinez, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah, also told CBS News in a statement: “At this point in the case, we do not have much information that we can share without compromising the integrity of the case.” “
Dunn is scheduled to be arraigned on November 16.
The inspector general’s office said it is receiving assistance in its investigation from the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA and FBI declined to comment.
It is not immediately clear whether Dunn has an attorney representing him ahead of his scheduled arraignment.
On Oct. 22, authorities alleged that an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot attempted to shut down a plane’s engines during a commercial flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco, California. The suspect, Joseph Emerson, was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder.
—Robert Legare and Katie Krupnik contributed to this report.
Trending News
Kris Van Cleave