Boeing Whistleblower John Barnett Dies in Apparent Suicide
Another Boeing Whistleblower Lost in Two Years
Barnett Filed Whistleblower Complaint over Alleged Defects in 737 Max
John Barnett, a former Boeing quality control manager who had filed a whistleblower complaint over alleged manufacturing defects in the 737 Max line of planes, has died in an apparent suicide. Barnett was in the middle of a whistleblower retaliation case against Boeing at the time of his death.
Barnett was fired from Spirit AeroSystems, which manufactures parts for Boeing, in April 2023. He filed a whistleblower complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in May 2023, alleging that Spirit had ignored his safety concerns about the 737 Max.
Barnett's complaint was one of several that have been filed against Boeing in recent years over the 737 Max. The plane was involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, killing a total of 346 people. The crashes led to the 737 Max being grounded for more than a year.
Boeing has denied any wrongdoing in the 737 Max crashes. The company has said that the plane is safe and that it has taken steps to address the safety concerns that have been raised.
Barnett's death is the second suicide of a Boeing whistleblower in the last two years. In December 2022, Dean Amones, a former Boeing engineer, died in an apparent suicide. Amones had also filed a whistleblower complaint over safety concerns about the 737 Max.
The deaths of Barnett and Amones have raised concerns about the treatment of whistleblowers in the aviation industry. Some critics have argued that Boeing has a history of retaliating against whistleblowers who raise safety concerns.
Boeing has said that it is committed to protecting whistleblowers and that it has a zero-tolerance policy for retaliation.
Conclusion
The deaths of John Barnett and Dean Amones are a reminder of the importance of protecting whistleblowers who come forward to raise safety concerns. The aviation industry must do more to ensure that whistleblowers are not retaliated against.
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