EA former employee of the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, who had complained about quality deficiencies in the company and filed a whistleblower lawsuit, has been found dead in the US state of South Carolina. Medical examiners said he died “of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
John Barnett, 62, worked for Boeing for more than 30 years and left the company in 2017. Barnett filed a whistleblower lawsuit in 2017. The legal dispute is still ongoing.
As the British “BBC” reported, he only gave sworn statements last week. Further interviews were planned for Saturday, but he did not appear. He was later found dead in his car in a hotel parking lot.
Warning of “catastrophic” defects
Barnett appeared in a 2019 New York Times story about quality deficiencies at Boeing's Charleston aircraft plant, and he painted a devastating picture of quality controls there. He was quoted as saying, “I have yet to see an aircraft come out of the Charleston factory that I would put my name to, safe and airworthy.” He went on to say that the quality issues could prove “catastrophic.” .
Boeing said in a statement that it was saddened by Barnett's death and was thinking of his friends and family. But Barnett's family apparently blames the company. NBC television quoted a statement from the family saying that “the hostile work environment at Boeing” led to Barnett's death. Its attempts to highlight quality concerns were met with a “culture of obfuscation” in which profits were more important than security.
The aircraft manufacturer is currently again facing increased questions about its quality control. In January, an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 flight had a door-sized fuselage section fall out shortly after takeoff, leaving a gaping hole in the cabin wall.
The US aviation authority FAA then ordered a flight ban for the model, which lasted for several weeks. The authority also announced a few days ago that it had found many cases during inspections in which Boeing did not comply with quality control requirements in production.
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