An aged Boeing whistleblower has been discovered lifeless beneath mysterious circumstances. John Barnett, who was 62 years outdated on the time of his dying, had labored on the aviation firm for 32 years up till his retirement in 2017. He primarily labored as a top quality supervisor on the North Charleston plant, making the 787 Dreamliner plane from 2010 and on.
In response to police reviews, Barnett was discovered lifeless at his residence in america from a from a “self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Within the days main as much as his dying, Barnett had been cooperating and offering proof in a whistleblower lawsuit towards the corporate.
Barnett had constructed a fame as a whistleblower, whose revelations rocked the aerospace large by bringing their manufacturing requirements into essential view. He additionally performed a pivotal function in exposing damning details about Boeing’s questionable practices. Certainly one of his most notable battles with the corporate arose in 2019, when Barnett accused Boeing of “intentionally becoming sub-standard elements to plane on the manufacturing line.”
Particulars surrounding the dying are scarce, however sources near the investigation counsel foul play could also be at play. Was this a tragic accident or a calculated transfer to silence a voice of dissent?
The timing of the whistleblower’s dying is especially chilling, approaching the heels of mounting scrutiny over Boeing’s security file and company tradition. Barnett had beforehand accused the corporate of a litany of significant security violations up to now. Among the many complaints Barnett submitted, he alleged emergency oxygen techniques on account of be fitted to the 787 confirmed a failure charge of 25 %, along with claiming sub-standard elements have been faraway from scrap bins and fitted to planes on the manufacturing line.
Whereas Boeing has denied Barnett’s claims, information present a 2017 evaluate performed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) upheld a few of his claims. Moreover, information of Barnett’s dying follows the incident from in early January, when an unused emergency exit door blew off a brand-new Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland Worldwide Airport.
To not point out the FAA lately revealed six-week audit of the corporate returned proof of “a number of situations the place the corporate allegedly didn’t adjust to manufacturing high quality management necessities”.
