Shortly after a video from an undercover Al Jazeera reporter showed Boeing workers in the South Carolina manufacturing plant saying they will not fly on the Dreamliner aircraft because of its poor safety, John Barnett, a longtime whistleblower has been discovered dead in his car.
John Barnett, a former employee of Boeing for 32 years, until his retirement in 2017 due to his health, and before his death, had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the aviation company.
According to authorities who are still investigating his death, Barnett died of a self-inflicted wound on 9 March.
The 62-year-old 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.
Barnett had revealed to BBC that Boeing workers had been deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the production line, due to intense pressure amidst tight deadlines from the company.
He also said that one in four breathing masks would not work in an emergency as tests on emergency oxygen systems due to be fitted to the 787 showed an abysmal failure rate of 25%.
He alleged that workers did not follow procedures intended to track components through the factory, allowing defective components to go missing, and at times, sub-standard parts had even been retrieved from scrap and fitted to planes that were being built to ensure production meets timeline.
The former employee said the company is aware of this malpractice and has done nothing.
Boeing denied his allegations. a review by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), found some of Mr Barnett’s allegations true.
It was discovered that 53 “non-conforming” parts in the factory were unknown and considered lost.
In a 2017 report, Boeing admitted that it “identified some oxygen bottles received from the supplier that were not deploying properly”, however, it held that no defective part was fitted in any plane.
Despite John Barnett’s long-running legal action against Boeing, the company said it was saddened to hear of his passing.
Barnett had been in Charleston for legal interviews linked to his allegations at the time of his death.
He gave a formal deposition the previous week, in which he was questioned by Boeing’s lawyers, before being cross-examined by his counsel.
He failed to appear for further questioning on Saturday which led to enquiries being made at his hotel.
Barnett was ultimately found dead in his truck in the hotel car park.
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