Just a week after an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot tried to shut down a plane’s engines and is now facing multiple attempted murder charges, we learn the details of an incident where a Delta Air Lines co-pilot pulled a gun on the captain of their flight, threatening to shoot him multiple times if he diverted the flight for a sick passenger.
Airbus A320 first officer Jonathan Dunn was indicted for interference with a flight crew over the August 22, 2022 incident. He was part of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, which allows registered crew to carry firearms in order to defend against potential terrorist attacks on board aircraft.
Here’s the indictment, scarce on details. For instance it isn’t clear whether the flight actually diverted or not – or the condition of the passenger with a medical emergency.
.@ABCWorldNews: "Tonight, a commercial airline pilot has been charged with pulling a gun on the captain right next to him in the cockpit mid-flight. Jonathan Dunn, indicted by a grand jury in Utah. Federal prosecutors say he threatened to shoot if the captain diverted their… pic.twitter.com/XcmCW9y77Q
— Ross Feinstein (@RossFeinstein) November 1, 2023
According to a Delta Air Lines spokesperson,
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 California-based pilot will be arraigned on November 16th. He has been removed from the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. He appears to be the same pilot Jonathan Dunn who, as an Air Force reservist, appealed the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate as a religious objector and lost.
It is a real challenge that many medical conditions a pilot may have aren’t going to be obvious in a medical exam, and that you want pilots with problems to be able to speak up. That’s doubly so when they’re mental problems or problems with alcohol and drugs. But speaking up and seeking help creates the risk of being sidelined, despite programs designed to encourage them to do so.
Put another way, you want pilots to be able to feel safe coming forward with their problems. But once they tell you they’re hallucinating and having thoughts about bringing down an aircraft, can you let them back in the cockpit? And keeping them from doing so communicates that they can’t safely come forward in the first place. All the programs designed to address this in the world still face this fundamental conundrum, and attempt to dial somewhat more towards pilot safety. But this isn’t an easy issue.
We need to double-down on investing in technologies that make us less reliant on pilots. Planes should be flying themselves and if something goes wrong, a giant chute deploys.
I hope that Delta Air Lines fired him, the FAA revokes his pilot certificate, he spends some time in the hoosegow, and gets a hefty financial hit to his wallet. Buh bye.
MAGA gotta MAGA.
“He appears to be the same pilot Jonathan Dunn who, as an Air Force reservist, appealed the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate as a religious objector and lost.”
This should’ve been the first sign he was an assh*le who should not be in the cockpit.
Unfortunately mental health is a real problem for all. Pilots are a group of people that must secretly suffer due to FAA regulations. Not sure the value of the covid comment… seems misplaced and takes away from the true issue… reform how mental health is treated amongst this population….
Anger at the world will not be identified by examinations. It’s probably a much bigger problem than true mental illness with pilots and easily hidden until triggered in a moment. This pilot and the United one that decided to take an axe to a parking gate are two of many examples.
His assignation in the destination city must have been pretty hot.
“… appears to be same pilot … who, as an Air Force reservist, appealed the … vaccine mandate … and lost.” Additional evidence that anti-vaxers are F—ing moron rectal sphincters.
I’m sure it was a premium gun.
Delta Airlines is a joke.
@CHRIS…when is the last time anyone in the US died due a pilot error….15 years ago.
When is the last time automation caused a crash? 2 737 MAXs a few years ago
@ Airfarer got it right The power of good P___y can make “normal” men do some crazy things, we’ve all been there in some (hopefully lesser) form or another…
@SMR Asiana 214 was not 15 years ago
@TLU
Maybe he had remembered he left a flight attendant handcuffed to a hotel bed.
@ Gary — Any relation to Timmy?
Amazing that the incident occurred in August of 2022 and he is only indicted in October of 2023. What the hell was happening in between?
Tim Dunn’s son?
Also, Delta airlines is such a joke.
@SMR: You’re being disingenuous when you compare fatal accidents in the US (and are wrong to boot, see Atlas Air 3591, UPS 1354, Asiana 214) and fatal accidents worldwide (neither 737 MX crash occurred in the US.)
There are far, far, far more pilot crashes worldwide than automation crashes.
You are having far too much fun with the AI-generated graphics Gary.
@ Patti — ROFL. Delta SkyGun+
The facts as stated are all wrong. My brother was simply defending Delta against scurrilous claims that they are not a premium airline.
Very poor CRM!…the UAL guy with a hatchet, the Alaska jumpseater now this? Sign of the times, social media and wacked out politicians are eating away of the most vulnerable folks in society.
Why would someone do something so st*pid as this?
One reads so often about people doing career-ending st*pid stuff, you can’t help but wonder what were they thinking ??
Some commentors on here must still be ticked off at Delta over its frequent-flyer program changes.
Interesting about the anti vaxer mentality…..they were few and far between at all the airlines I have friends working for and the general consensus was they, like at my airline, made up the handful of perennial problem children. Problems in training, problems in getting along with others and by and large the weak links……a handful of pilots making the news shouldn’t negate the fact that most pilots are relatively pragmatic and intelligent…
How in Gods name was this person able to first, purchase the firearm and more importantly, allowed to bring on board, IN THE COCKPIT. How insane is this. We can’t bring more than 3 fluid oz of liquid and this officer is allowed a firearm ON BOARD!!! This policy needs to stop immediately. Cockpit doors are secured for a reason. It is not necessary for a pilot to be armed. Only armed marshals. This is absolutely insane.
They need a few more guns in the cockpit.
This has got to be one of the funniest AI renderings I’ve seen in a while.
It may just be possible that Dunn heard all the details and came to the conclusion that the “medical emergency” was a fake and that this was an attempt to hijack the plane in a new way. Let’s see what the outcome is before so conclusively sure about judging Dunn, who I don’t know and had never heard of until 5 minutes ago! After all, he passed the Fed tests to allow him to carry a gun in the cockpit and his job was to prevent hijacking.
“Airline Pilot and Doctor” Your idiotic comment speaks for itself. The co-pilots actions have nothing to do with his prior concerns with the Biden dictatorship regarding vaccine mandates.
“Name Witheld”. Grow a set and post your name if you want anyone to take you seriously.