A former Delta copilot is accused of threatening to shoot the captain 'multiple times' if he diverted the plane due to a passenger's medical emergency

• A former Delta first officer was indicted on a count of interference with a flight crew.
• Authorities say he threatened to shoot the captain over a disagreement about diverting the plane.

A first officer threatened to shoot the captain of a commercial flight if he diverted the plane due to a passenger's medical emergency, the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General said.

Jonathan Dunn was indicted by a Utah Grand Jury on October 18 with one count of interference with a flight crew, according to a court document seen by Insider.

A Delta Air Lines spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that Dunn was working for the carrier as a first officer at the time of the incident, but is no longer a Delta employee. The DOT-OIG did not specify the airline or the flight.

The indictment accuses Dunn of assaulting and intimidating an airline's crew member with a dangerous weapon on August 22, 2022.

According to the inspector general, Dunn had "a disagreement" with the captain over "a potential flight diversion due to a passenger medical event."

Dunn then told the captain "they would be shot multiple times" if they diverted the flight, the inspector general said.

The announcement added that the copilot had a weapon because he was authorized to carry a firearm through the Transportation Security Administration's Federal Flight Deck Officer program.

That program was created in response to the September 11 attacks, and allows airline pilots to undergo special training to receive TSA authorization to be armed in the cockpit in domestic flights, to defend against crimes like a hijacking.

The TSA told CBS News that Dunn has been removed from the FFDO program.

Delta and the TSA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, sent outside US working hours.

Dunn is scheduled to be arraigned on November 16.