Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Former Delta pilot Jonathan Dunn is suing Delta Air Lines and Utah pilots after federal charges against him were dropped.
- Dunn alleges false accusations by a fellow pilot led to loss of job and future prospects.
- The lawsuit claims malicious prosecution, defamation and breach of duty, seeking monetary damages and a correction of Dunn's personnel record.
SALT LAKE CITY — A former Delta pilot, previously accused of threatening his captain on a 2022 flight to Salt Lake City, is now suing Delta Airlines, a handful of Utah pilots and others in U.S. District Court after federal charges of his own were dropped in December.
Jonathan Dunn, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, says a "false accusation" by fellow commercial pilot Robert Banish, spurred by a personal grudge, led to a loss of his pilot's and airman's medical license, loss of his job, a temporary pause on his security clearance while costing him hundreds of thousands in legal fees.
Dunn spent over a decade on active duty, was deployed three times to Afghanistan and flew multiple combat missions, court filings say.
He filed a lawsuit Dec. 30, alleging malicious prosecution against all parties, defamation against Delta and Banish, and breach of duty of fair representation against the union organization Air Line Pilots Association, International and two of its representatives.
Medical incident on flight to Salt Lake City
In August 2022, Dunn and Banish "co-piloted a series of cross-country flights over three days," according to court documents, with Banish as the captain.
It was the first time the two had worked together, but Banish "had grown to dislike Dunn personally," the complaint states, complaining he "gave too much input into flight operations," and becoming "contemptuous" of Dunn after learning the man objected to Air Force COVID-19 vaccine policies on religious freedom grounds.
The veteran's exemption request was reported on by national media, and an appeal was denied by the Supreme Court.
During the final leg of that series, the two flew from Atlanta to Salt Lake City, but an off-duty flight attendant experienced a medical issue when they were east of Denver. The team, along with an on-call physician, "determined no emergency existed," and the flight should continue to Utah instead of landing in Denver, the complaint states.
Banish, while flying over the Grand Junction airport, said they could land there if the medical situation got worse, according to the complaint. Dunn took the statement as a joke, court documents say, and "responded with jokes of his own."
Dunn "first offered to arm wrestle Banish for the right to decide where to land and then, after Banish responded with another joke about the captain having 51 of the 100 votes aboard the aircraft, Dunn joked that he could use his service pistol as a veto to stop Banish from diverting to Grand Junction."
In a detention memo, prosecutors claimed Dunn "described in substantial detail how he would shoot the captain multiple times for 'going crazy' and he would later explain he had to shoot all the rounds he possessed because the captain was 'still twitching.'"
As part of the Transportation Security Administration's Federal Flight Deck Officer program, Dunn was authorized to carry a firearm.
Banish responded to the "attempt at dark humor" by saying Dunn had crossed a line, that he shouldn't make such jokes, the complaint says. After Dunn said he wouldn't make jokes like that in the future, the two continued their conversation and landed in Salt Lake City, the court filing says.
Professional fallout
Banish told the Salt Lake and regional supervisors of the conversation within hours, the complaint says, but no one saved the cockpit recording.
Three days after the flight, Banish called the FBI, encouraged by supervisors and other Delta employees, reporting that "a federal flight deck officer ... 'essentially joked' about shooting him during a flight," and that "Dunn doesn't seem completely normal," according to the court filing.
In October 2022, Dunn was told he would be terminated, the lawsuit states. His supervisor told Dunn if he resigned before a formal termination letter, his personnel record would not include "resigned in lieu of termination," according to the complaint.
Dunn resigned, but his personnel record indicated "separation – invol(untary) w/o ben(ifits)," and "resign in lieu – conduct," the complaint says, with the word "conduct" scratched out with pen but "still clearly readable."
In October 2023, over a year after the flight, Dunn was indicted for felony interference with a flight crew using a dangerous weapon, carrying a punishment of mandatory incarceration up to life imprisonment, the complaint says.
Delta supervisors and Banish texted each other, according to the complaint, talking about an upcoming arraignment hearing, saying, "Sounds like a party I don't want to miss," and "popcorn ready."
Banish sat for an interview with the government in January 2024, and said "he did not consider Dunn's comments a joke," and "he feared he would have to decide between diverting or getting shot," according to the court filing.
When Dunn pleaded not guilty, and a trial date was set, employees texted each other that it should be "quite entertaining," asking whether "cupcake Dunn" had "suffered irreversible self-image damage," the filing claims, with Banish responding, "lol. Exactly."
The government continued prosecuting until Dunn obtained the call recording from Banish's initial conversation with the FBI, where the man "repeatedly acknowledges that Dunn was joking," the complaint says.
In a motion days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the indictment saying they "came into possession of previously unknown evidence."
Dunn is seeking to have his personnel record corrected, a judgment in favor of all charges, punitive and compensatory damages, and attorneys' fees for the suit.
