According to CBS,
On the 17th local time,
According to the Charleston Police Department, South Carolina, USA
A document published on the same day,
After an extensive law enforcement investigation,
The police determined that Boeing had been publicly exposed
Former Boeing employees who are a safety hazard
The cause of John Barnett's death was
自杀。
John Barnett
In March of this year
John Barnett died before testifying
Barnett worked as a quality control manager at the North Charleston, South Carolina plant that produces Boeing 787 airliners in 2010, retired in 2017 for health reasons, and broke the news about Boeing's production safety in 2019.
He was supposed to be questioned on March 9 about his defamation lawsuit against Boeing, but he did not appear in court and was later found dead in the car in the hotel parking lot where he was staying.
According to documents released by his lawyers, Barnett said he had been "harassed, vilified and humiliated" for expressing concerns about Boeing's quality control process.
On March 11, local time, law enforcement in South Carolina, the United States, confirmed to the media that Barnett was suspected of dying by suicide at the age of 62.
John Barnett
Whistleblower lawyer:
No one would believe that he was suicidal
According to the reference, a family friend of Barnett said that Barnett had told her before his death that if he was found dead, it would never be a suicide.
Jennifer, who did not give her last name, spoke to ABC's local news agency, WPDE, about a worrying conversation she had with Barnett. She said Barnett came to visit her when she needed help, and the two began talking about his upcoming deposition in Charleston, South Carolina.
Jennifer told WPDE: "He's not worried about security because I asked him. I said, 'Aren't you afraid?' He said: 'No, I'm not afraid, but if something happens to me, it certainly won't be suicide.' ’”
Jennifer's exact account could not be verified, and Newsweek contacted several sources, but to no avail. However, Barnett's lawyers, Robert Turkwitz and Brian Knowles, said "no one would believe" that he was suicidal. He was "in good spirits" and there was no indication that he would end his life.
John Barnett once broke the news about Boeing's safety problems
Barnett worked for Boeing for 32 years.
Barnett told the BBC that soon after arriving at the North Charleston factory, he began to worry that Boeing's rush to get the new aircraft off the assembly line caused workers to work under pressure and the assembly process was hasty and chaotic. Some workers did not follow the factory's parts tracking procedures, resulting in the loss of defective parts; In some cases, in order to prevent production line delays, non-conforming parts are even removed from the scrap bin and installed on the aircraft being manufactured.
Barnett also said that the failure rate of the Boeing 787's emergency oxygen supply system was 25 percent. This means that in the event of an emergency during a flight, one out of every four breathing masks may not be available.
"Of all the airliners that leave North Charleston, I dare to sign that it is safe and fit to fly." Barnett said he had alerted management to his concerns, but management had taken no action.
Boeing denied Barnett's claims, saying all Boeing aircraft meet the highest safety and quality standards. But a 2017 review by the FAA, the U.S. regulator, confirmed some of Barnett's concerns, including finding at least 53 missing substandard parts and requiring Boeing to rectify them.
Barnett's death comes at a time when Boeing is being audited by the FAA in connection with a number of recent accidents. In an interview with the Thirty Mile Zone (TMZ) news network at the end of January, Barnett said he was not surprised that a door plug in the cabin of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 fell off during the flight on January 5.
Following the death of John Barnett
Another whistleblower died
Following the death of John Barnett,
Boeing production safety and product quality issues
Another whistleblower
Joshua Dean,
He died of a sudden illness on April 30,
He was 45 years old.
Joshua Dean
According to a May 1 report by the Seattle Times, Dean lives in Wichita, Kansas, and has always been in good health and has a healthy lifestyle. Family members said that two weeks ago, Dean suddenly sought medical attention and was hospitalized for breathing difficulties, and then his condition continued to deteriorate, and he was diagnosed with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and doctors were unable to recover.
Dean worked as a quality inspector for Boeing's airframe supplier, Spire Aerosystems, and was one of the first whistleblowers to accuse Ace executives of ignoring flaws in the manufacturing process of the 737 MAX.
Counsel for the whistleblower:
More people will come forward over the Boeing issue
According to a report on the website of Fortune magazine on May 9, Brian Knowles and Rob Turkwitz are the lawyers representing Boeing's whistleblowers on production issues, and the two whistleblowers they represented, John Barnett and Joshua Dean, have died in the past two months.
In an exclusive interview with Fortune magazine, Knowles said that he and the new group of whistleblowers represented by Teckwitz would soon come forward. "You're going to see more whistleblowers come forward soon," he said. More than 10 whistleblowers from Boeing and Boeing's suppliers will soon come out to speak out. ”
Knowles said the shocking deaths of Barnett and Dean only encourage whistleblowers to speak out. He added: "In the eyes of the new batch of whistleblowers, Barnett and Dean are heroes. Whistleblowers have moved away from the pressures and risks of their careers and will soon be disclosing what they know. ”
Knowles said the new batch of whistleblowers includes both current and former Boeing employees. He said the men had reported to managers when Boeing or Avid discovered processes and vulnerabilities that led to production flaws. The whistleblower has also filed complaints with federal regulators, including the FAA, when higher authorities failed to take corrective action.
Knowles said one of the whistleblowers, who is still in office, has been retaliated against by Boeing management.
Knowles is convinced that restoring the highest level of safety and quality to Boeing's legendary manufacturing will require the courage of Barnett and Dean. He said a new group of whistleblowers would soon continue that mission "in an effort to help get Boeing and Spire back on track and protect the public's flight safety."