Boeing whistleblower found dead in parking lot

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The former Boeing worker who turned into a whistleblower was found dead in his truck in a parking lot. This happened a few days before he was going to participate in some legal interviews that were part of a lawsuit.

The man, John Barnett, 62, had worked at Boeing for over 30 years and retired back in 2017. He was speaking out about the company's alleged safety oversights and made claims of malpractices. It seems like he won't get to participate in those legal interviews now.

A video of him was shared by Collin Rugg as articles on Trending Politics and Revolver News broke headlines of the man's unfortunate passing. Revolver added a quote from the BBC:

Boeing said it was saddened to hear of Mr Barnett’s passing. The Charleston County coroner confirmed his death to the BBC on Monday. It said the 62-year-old had died from a “self-inflicted gunshot wound” on 9 March and police were investigating.

Mr Barnett had worked for the US plane giant for 32 years, until his retirement in 2017 on health grounds. From 2010, he worked as a quality manager at the North Charleston plant making the 787 Dreamliner, a state-of-the-art airliner used mainly on long-haul routes.

In 2019, Mr Barnett told the BBC that under-pressure workers had been deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the production line. He also said he had uncovered serious problems with oxygen systems, which could mean one in four breathing masks would not work in an emergency.

He said soon after starting work in South Carolina he had become concerned that the push to get new aircraft built meant the assembly process was rushed and safety was compromised, something the company denied.

There's also this image going around...