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Police in Charleston, South Carolina, are investigating the death of John Barnett, a former Boeing quality control manager who became a whistleblower after publicizing concerns about serious safety problems in Boeing's commercial aircraft. ing.
Police said Barnett's body was found Saturday inside a vehicle in a Holiday Inn parking lot in Charleston. A day earlier, he testified about a series of problems he said he had identified at a Boeing factory where he once helped inspect 787s before handing them over to customers.
Police said officers were sent to the hotel to conduct a welfare check after people were unable to contact Barnett, who was in Charleston to testify in a lawsuit against Boeing.
“When officers arrived, they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the head inside a vehicle,” police said in a statement to NPR. “He was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Charleston County Coroner Bobby Joe O'Neill's office said Barnett, who retired from Boeing and lived in Louisiana, died of “what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Charleston police said detectives are actively investigating the incident and are awaiting an official cause of death as they try to determine the circumstances of Barnett's death.
Barnett, who worked for decades at Boeing factories in Everett, Wash., and North Charleston, S.C., has repeatedly claimed that Boeing's manufacturing practices have declined, and that instead of improving, managers are He added that there had been pressure on employees not to produce the documents. Potential defects or problems.
Boeing said in a statement to NPR: “We are saddened by the passing of Mr. Barnett and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Barnett, 62, made international headlines in April 2019 after he and other former Boeing employees spoke to the New York Times about what he called Boeing's shoddy manufacturing problems. became. Barnett accused the company of adopting a culture that prioritizes real numbers and profits, and ultimately passenger safety, over quality.
“As Boeing's quality manager, you are the last line of defense before a defect leaks into the aircraft,” Barnett told the paper. “And I have yet to see a plane leave Charleston that I would call safe and flyable.”
At the time this article was published, Barnett had already filed a whistleblower complaint against Boeing, and his attempts to raise quality and safety issues were ignored and he continued to point out the issues. He said he was punished for this.
Barnett filed a whistleblower complaint against Boeing in early 2017. His family says his lawsuit against the company is moving forward to trial in June of this year.
“He looked forward to his day in court and hoped to force Boeing to change its culture,” his family said in a statement shared with NPR by his brother, Rodney Barnett.
Barnett's family blamed his deteriorating health on the stress of his behavior toward his longtime employer.
“He suffered from PTSD and anxiety attacks as a result of exposure to the harsh working conditions at Boeing,” they said, “which we believe contributed to his death.”
John Barnett said in a 2019 interview with Ralph Nader that he continued to have health problems even after retiring from the airplane manufacturer.
“It took a toll mentally and emotionally,” Barnett said, but added that the safety of the planes rolling off the production line remained his main focus.
“That's what my story is about, and what really brings my story to a place where the right people are involved to make sure these airplanes are built correctly,” Barnett said. “Because he has 288 passengers and crew on the 787. So the last thing you want to do is wake up in the morning and see a 787 crash.” He for one.
“I mean, it just keeps me up at night,” he said.