John Barnett, who labored for Boeing for greater than 3 a long time earlier than blowing the whistle at the airplane maker’s allegedly questionable protection requirements, used to be discovered useless in his automobile in South Carolina.
Barnett, 62, used to be meant to be in a deposition Saturday to reply to questions matching to a lawsuit in opposition to his former employer when he failed to turn as much as the assembly. His criminal staff tried to reach him by phone to negative avail, till they contacted the lodge the place Barnett used to be staying.
He used to be discovered useless in his truck within the lodge parking dozen.
The Charleston County Coroner’s Workplace instructed native media that apparently Barnett died from a self-inflicted wound. The Charleston Police Segment is investigating his loss of life.
Barnett, at the beginning from Louisiana, used to be in Charleston for criminal interviews matching to his case in opposition to Boeing, through which he argued that his former employer retaliated in opposition to him for elevating considerations in regards to the protection of the airplanes produced at its Charleston production plant.
“Today is a tragic day,” Brian Knowles, Barnett’s legal professional, wrote in an electronic mail to Corporate Crime Reporter. “John had been back and forth for quite some time getting prepared. The defense examined him for their allowed seven hours under the rules on Thursday. I cross examined him all day yesterday (Friday) and did not finish. We agreed to continue this morning (Saturday) at 10 a.m., (co-counsel) Rob (Turkewitz) kept calling this morning and (Barnett’s) phone would go to voicemail. We then asked the hotel to check on him. They found him in his truck dead from an ‘alleged’ self-inflicted gunshot.”
Boeing said that the corporate is “saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Barnett labored at Boeing for 32 years as a trait regulate engineer earlier than retiring in 2017.
In 2019, together with a lot alternative staff, Barnett instructed the New York Times that, dealing with production delays, Boeing driven its staff on the Charleston plant to churn out Dreamliners and forget about issues of safety.
Barnett said at the time that he had discovered clusters of steel shavings placing over wiring that commanded the gliding controls in different planes. The steel shavings have been it sounds as if produced when fasteners have been fitted into nuts, but when the shavings pierced the wires, the consequences can be “catastrophic.”
Barnett stated he many times instructed his bosses to take away the shavings however they refused and moved Barnett to another a part of the Charleston plant.
A spokesperson for the Federal Flying Management (FAA) showed to the Unused York Instances that it had inspected a number of Boeing planes and located the steel shavings, which is able to supremacy to electric shorts and motive fires. The FAA issued a directive to have the shavings wiped clean up and Boeing stated on the era it used to be complying with the line and dealing to strengthen the design of the nut that produced the steel slivers.
Boeing 787 Dreamliners are constructed on the gliding corporate’s North Charleston, S.C., meeting plant on Might 30, 2023.
Juliette Michel/AFP by means of Getty Pictures
Then in 2019, Barnett raised some other protection fear, this era with the BBC. He stated that procedures to trace faulty portions had failed, make happen some sub-standard portions being suited to planes to hurry up production era.
He claimed that assessments of the crisis oxygen methods on some planes had proven a failure rate of around 25 per cent, that means that one in 4 oxygen mask deployed within the tournament of an crisis may just fail.
Boeing denied the claims however the FAA discovered that a minimum of 53 faulty portions within the manufacturing unit had long gone lacking and have been thought to be misplaced. Boeing used to be ordered to remove remedial movements following the file.
Barnett introduced his personal lawsuit in opposition to Boeing, accusing the corporate of defaming his personality and hindering his occupation as a result of the issues of safety he raised. This used to be the lawsuit Barnett used to be pursuing when he died.

In fresh months, Boeing has persistently been within the headlines next a line of high-profile injuries.
In January, a door plug failed on a Boeing 737 Max 9 airplane, make happen a door panel blowing off the fuselage mid-flight. The blowout used to be connected to leave bolts and the FAA grounded all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes with a door plug in a while next the incident.
On Monday, 50 society have been injured aboard a Boeing 787 airplane next a “strong shake” and surprising plunge led to society to be thrown from their seats and clash the airplane’s ceiling throughout a gliding from Australia.
The reason for the “technical event” remains to be below investigation.
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