Jonathan Dunn, a former Delta Airlines co-pilot, was indicted by a Utah grand jury on October 18 after threatening to shoot the captain on an August 2022 flight that was set to be diverted due to a passenger with a medical condition.
“Dunn was authorized to carry a firearm through the Transportation Security Administration’s Federal Flight Deck Officer program,” the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General confirmed on Tuesday. “After a disagreement about a potential flight diversion due to a passenger medical event, Dunn told the Captain they would be shot multiple times if the Captain diverted the flight.”
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The TSA FFDO program was created in 2002 after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and allows qualified pilots to “use firearms to defend against an act of criminal violence and air piracy while attempting to gain control of an aircraft.”
This means that pilots in the program are permitted to carry TSA-approved weaponry to arm themselves in the cockpit during flights should there be an attempted hijacking or criminal takeover of the flight.
TSA confirmed to CBS that Dunn is no longer a part of the FFDO program, though more details were not given about the case at this time.
Delta did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur’s request for comment.
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