Airplane News: Threat to Shoot Captain, Aircraft Damage by Student, and Attempt to Ban Touch and Gos

First up this week in your “Don’t be that guy” news update is a first officer for an airline who threatened to shoot the captain over a diversion.
Jonathan J Dunn is an airline pilot an unspecified airline, who is a member of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, this means he received training to carry a loaded pistol on the flight deck.
He has been charged with interference with the flight crew for an incident that occurred in August of 2022, where Dunn and the captain (unnamed) had a disagreement about a potential diversion due to a passenger’s medical event.
According to the inspector general’s office “Dunn told the Captain they would be shot multiple times if the Captain diverted the flight,”
Dunn will be arranged in Utah on November 16th, 2023.
We’ll keep you updated when we see more.

Next up this week is another case of “don’t be that guy” with a student in Stuart, Florida who damaged 10 airplanes after being denied solo flights.
23 Year Old Sumebh Singh was arrested on felony criminal mischief after damaging throttles on 10 of the school’s aircraft.
Singh had allegedly paid $50,000 to Treasure Coast Flight Training and became angry after instructors told him he wasn’t ready to solo.
Reports say his goal was to cause $50,000 in damage to aircraft.
The school said all flight school aircraft have been grounded until mechanics can evaluate the extent of the damage.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also been notified according to Avweb.

Last up this week is a city council in California who is trying to ban touch and gos.
Zamperini field is an airport in Torrance, CA who hosts 10 flight school and a factory for Robinson Helicopters.
Council member Asam Sheikh is quoted as saying “I believe we are here for the constituents, we represent them,” “We don’t have to be expert on anything when we make decisions. We have to represent the community and that’s the only thing we should be expert on.”
The FAA however disagrees however saying the council there are ways they can minimize airport noice but their authority “does not extend to many aspects of aircraft operations, including route, altitude, time of operation and frequency.”.
The FAA is reportedly working on a formal response, however Torrance has not received federal funds or airport grants.
The council is also attempting to ban the use of 100LL, imposing landing fees, and capping the number of flight schools at the airport.
Another one that we’ll keep you updated about if we see more!


That’s it for this week, we hope it goes without saying but don’t be that guy.
Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next week on Monday for our live Q&A!

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/indictment-alleged-fo-threatened-to-shoot-his-captain-over-flight-diversion/

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/aircraft-damage-after-student-denied-solo/

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/torrance-council-trying-to-ban-touch-and-goes/