John Barnett, former Boeing quality control manager who became a whistleblower, was found dead on Saturday in Charleston, South Carolina. His body was discovered by the police in a vehicle in a Holiday Inn parking lot, with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Barnett had made headlines back in 2019 when he and some other former Boeing employees spoke to The New York Times about manufacturing problems at Boeing. He had said,
“As a quality manager at Boeing, you’re the last line of defense before a defect makes it out to the flying public. And I haven’t seen a plane out of Charleston yet that I’d put my name on saying it’s safe and airworthy.”
He accused the company of prioritizing numbers and profits over quality and safety, a claim that put him at odds with one of the largest aerospace manufacturers in the world.
The day before his death, John Barnett had also testified about the issues he observed at his former company’s plant, where he once had to inspect up to 787 aircraft to determine if they were safe for delivery to customers.
His allegations included claims that Boeing’s manufacturing practices had declined and that managers pressured workers not to document “potential defects and problems”.
The Charleston police are actively investigating the case, awaiting a formal cause of death from the coroner’s office to determine the circumstances surrounding John Barnett’s death.
