Boeing whistleblower found dead days after giving evidence against company

A whistleblower who gave evidence against airline manufacturer Boeing was found dead in a hotel car park over the weekend.

John Barnett had worked for Boeing for 32 years before retiring from the company in 2017, and according to the BBC he had recently been giving evidence in a lawsuit against them.

They report that the Charleston County coroner confirmed the death of a 62-year-old from a 'self inflicted' wound on 9 March, and that police are investigating the matter.

At the time of his death, he'd been in Charleston for legal interviews in relation to a long-running lawsuit against his former employer in which he had claimed that Boeing had denigrated his character and hampered his career, claims which the company denied.

Of the 62-year-old's death, Boeing said: "We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends."

Barnett had been employed as Boeing's quality manager in their North Charleston plant which made their 787 Dreamliner, and in 2019 told the BBC that up to a quarter of the oxygen systems on board the plane might be faulty.

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The whistleblower claimed to have uncovered serious problems with the 787's oxygen systems, alleging that pressured workers had been deliberately fitting inadequate parts to the plane on the production line.

Barnett said that shortly after he started his role as quality manager in 2010 he was concerned that safety on the aircraft was being compromised by rushed production.

Among his allegations were that some parts which were below standard and thrown away for scrap were removed from bins and installed into planes to avoid delays.

He said that he alerted managers to this issue but that nothing had been done, while Boeing denied his allegations.

According to the BBC, a 2017 review by the Federal Aviation Administration upheld some of his concerns.

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The report found that at least 53 'non-conforming' parts were unaccounted for and considered lost.

Boeing said they had 'identified some oxygen bottles received from the supplier that were not deploying properly' but denied any of them had ever been fitted onto their planes.

Barnett last week gave a formal deposition where he was questioned by Boeing's lawyers and was then cross-examined by his own representatives.

The 62-year-old had been due to provide more evidence on Saturday (9 March) but did not appear, and he was found dead in his truck in the car part of his hotel.