Boeing whistleblower John Barnett is found dead in his truck outside a South Carolina hotel, just days after testifying in a lawsuit against the aerospace giant
A former Boeing employee who once raised concerns about the company’s production standards has been found dead in the US.
John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck in the parking lot of a South Carolina hotel, police said Monday — seven years after he retired from a 32-year career.
The ex-quality manager at Boeing’s North Charleston plant died of a “self-inflicted” wound, police in Charleston said, adding they were still investigating.
Barnett’s death came during a lull in depositions in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit alleging that workers under pressure deliberately fitted substandard parts to aircraft on an assembly line.
He said that in some cases, second-rate parts were literally pulled from scrap bins before being fitted to aircraft under construction to avoid delays. A 2017 review by the FAA confirmed some of its concerns, prompting Boeing to take action.
He had just given a statement to Boeing’s lawyers for the case last week, his attorney Brian Knowles said.
John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck in the parking lot of a South Carolina hotel, police said Monday — seven years after he retired from the company following a 32-year career
The ex-quality manager at Boeing’s North Charleston plant was seen dying of a “self-inflicted” wound, Charleston police said. Barnett was in the middle of a lawsuit alleging that workers under pressure deliberately removed parts from aircraft that did not meet the standards during his employment
In an email, he called his client’s death “tragic.”
“Today is a tragic day,” Knowles wrote, revealing that Barnett “would be making day three of his deposition here in Charleston on his AIR21 case [on Saturday]’, referring to a federal law that provides whistleblower protection in the airline industry.
“John had been preparing back and forth for quite some time,” he continued, providing a timeline of what happened in the days before Barnett’s death.
‘The defense examined him on Thursday for the seven hours allowed by the rules.
‘I examined him all day yesterday [Friday] and did not end. We agreed to continue this morning at 10am [co-counsel] To rob [Turkewitz] kept calling this morning and his phone went to voicemail.
“Then we asked the hotel to look into him,” the South Carolina lawyer continued.
“They found him dead in his truck from an ‘alleged’ self-inflicted gunshot. We drove to the hotel and spoke to the police and the coroner.’
The Charleston County coroner, meanwhile, confirmed Monday that the longtime Boeing executive died Friday while in town for interviews related to the case.
Boeing also responded to the former employee’s death in its own statement as news spread Monday, saying it was “saddened by the passing of Mr. Barnett.”
The statement did not elaborate on any aspect of the case, but Brass eventually added: “Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Shown here is Boeing’s assembly plant in North Charleston – where the deceased worked for decades
The factory where Barnett worked for decades is where Boeing builds the 787 Dreamliner, one of several aircraft crafts making headlines lately. Pictured: An unrelated United Airlines Boeing 787-9 taking off from Los Angeles International Airport on July 30, 2022
About 50 people were treated by first responders on Monday after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying from Australia to New Zealand experienced a “technical event” that caused a “strong motion” that jolted passengers in their seats
At the time of writing, five more have been hospitalized after the plane descended violently due to the unspecified problem, LATAM airline and first responders both told AFP
Meanwhile, in a separate incident in early January, an unused emergency exit door blew off a brand new Boeing 737 Max shortly after takeoff from Portland International, sparking an ongoing DOJ investigation.
The factory where Barnett worked for decades is where Boeing builds the 787 Dreamliner, one of several aircraft crafts making headlines lately.
About 50 people were treated by first responders on Monday after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying from Australia to New Zealand experienced a “technical event” that caused a “strong motion” that shook passengers in their seats.
At the time of writing, five more have been hospitalized after the plane crashed violently due to the unspecified problem, LATAM airline and first responders both told AFP.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident in early January, an unused emergency exit door blew off a brand new Boeing 737 Max shortly after takeoff from Portland International, sparking an ongoing DOJ investigation.
On Friday, shortly before the incident over the Indian Ocean, Boeing said it believed the technical fault involving the door stemmed from something that occurred during production, where the required documentation never allowed for the removal of a key part that failed .
Also on Friday, the company said it is “committed to continuing to cooperate fully and transparently with the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation,” which remains ongoing more than three months later.
Barnett’s job for 32 years was to oversee production standards for the company’s aircraft – standards he said were not met during his four years at the then-new Charleston plant from 2010 to 2014.
Barnett’s job for 32 years was to oversee production standards for the company’s aircraft – standards he said were not met during his four years at the then-new Charleston plant from 2010 to 2014, when Brass rushed to close the then to roll out new 787 Dreamliner model.
“The new leadership didn’t understand the processes,” Barnett told Corporate Crime Reporter in a 2019 interview about how buyers reportedly cut corners to get their then-state-of-the-art 7878s ready on time.
“They pulled them from other parts of the company,” he continued, two years after he retired in 20017. “The new leadership team – from my principal to now – were all from St. Louis, Missouri. They said they were all friends there.”
“That whole team crashed,” he continued. “They were from the military side. My impression was that their mentality was: we’re going to do it the way we want to do it. Their motto at the time was: We’re in Charleston and we can do anything we want.”
“They started pressuring us not to document defects, to work outside procedures, to allow defective material to be installed without being corrected.
“They started bypassing procedures and losing control over aircraft configuration and losing control over non-compliant parts. They just wanted the planes to be pushed out the door and the cash register to ring.”
He also said he had discovered serious problems with the plane’s oxygen systems, claiming one in four breathing masks would not work in an emergency.