According to the BBC, John Barnett, a former employee of Boeing who voiced concerns about the company’s production standards, was discovered dead in the United States.
Before the hotel authorities in Charleston, South Carolina, discovered him dead in his truck in the parking lot, the opposing counsel was going to question him once again on Saturday. His cause of death has not yet been made public.
Barnett, who retired from Boeing in 2017 after 32 years of employment there, provided testimony in a whistleblower case against the aerospace organization.
Who is John Barnett?
The 62-year-old was in charge of quality control at the North Charleston facility that manufactured the state-of-the-art 787 Dreamliner. In his most recent testimony, he addressed claims that workers, under pressure, purposefully fitted inferior parts to airplanes on the assembly line.
Furthermore, Barnett expressed alarm that one in four breathing masks might malfunction in an emergency by claiming to have found significant problems with oxygen systems.
The Charleston County coroner confirmed that Barnett died on March 9 from a wound that was “self-inflicted,” and Boeing expressed sadness upon learning of his passing.
“We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends,” Boeing said in a statement.
Despite having retired from Boeing in 2017 for health-related reasons, Barnett remained embroiled in a legal dispute with the company, claiming that it had damaged his reputation and damaged his career because of the safety concerns he had brought up.
Even after retiring, Barnett continued to pursue legal battles with Boeing
Barnett expressed his concerns about hurried assembly procedures jeopardizing safety standards in a 2019 interview with the BBC. He claimed that employees disregarded protocols for tracking components, which caused faulty parts to vanish. He further asserted that to avoid production delays, inferior parts were taken from scrap bins and installed on planes that were still being built.
However, the FAA ultimately decided to uphold several of Barnett’s concerns at the end of 2017. Since it’s unclear where the parts are being produced, Boeing has at least 53 parts in non-conforming manufacturing facilities. As a result, the FAA requested that Boeing provide corrective measures for the ongoing problems. Boeing stated the issues with the oxygen systems, stating that “some oxygen bottles have been delivered from the supplier that have not performed the function properly.”
Even after retiring, Barnett continued to pursue legal battles with Boeing. When he had the accident, he was in town for legal interviews, most likely connected to the case. He gave his deposition last week, to which Boeing’s lawyers responded by having him cross-examined and having his own counsel present. His body was discovered in his truck in the hotel parking lot. Although he was supposed to be questioned on Saturday for more information, he was never seen there, finishing all inquiries at the hotel.
“Today is a tragic day,” said his attorney Brian Knowles.
“John had been back and forth for quite some time getting prepared,” Knowles added.
“The defense examined him for their allowed seven hours under the rules on Thursday.”
Given recent events stemming from a 737 Max emergency exit door that exploded just moments after takeoff, Boeing has agreed to extended periods of production.