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Boeing whistleblower John Barnett is

found dead in his truck outside a South
Carolina hotel just days after testifying
in lawsuit against the aviation giant
By Alex Hammer For Dailymail.Com
22:29 11 Mar 2024, updated 23:40 11 Mar 2024

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John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck in a

hotel parking lot Saturday

Cops made the announcement Monday, saying

he was in Charleston for the suit

The ex-quality manager at Boeing's North

Charleston plant gave a deposition to Boeing as
recently as last week, after claiming they were
using second-rate parts

A former Boeing staffer who once raised concerns about

the company's production standards has been found
dead in the US.

John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck in a hotel

parking lot in South Carolina, cops said Monday - seven
years after he retired following a 32-year career.

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The ex-quality manager at Boeing's North Charleston

plant died from a 'self-inflicted' wound, cops in
Charleston said, adding that they were still investigation.

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Barnett's death came during a break in depositions in a

whistleblower retaliation suit, where he alleged under-
pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard
parts to aircraft on the assembly line.

He said that in some cases, second-rate parts were

literally removed from scrap bins, before being fitted to
planes that were being built to prevent delays. A 2017
review by the FAA upheld some of his concerns,
requiring Boeing to take action.

He had just given a deposition to Boeing's lawyers for

the case this past week, his attorney Brian Knowles said.

John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck in a hotel

parking lot in South Carolina, cops said Monday - seven
years after he retired from the firm following a 32-year
career

The ex-quality manager at Boeing's North Charleston plant

(seen died from a 'self-inflicted' wound, cops in Charleston
said. Barnett was in the midst of a suit that alleged under-
pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard
parts to aircraft during his tenure

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In an email, he called his client's death 'tragic'.

'Today is a tragic day,' Knowles wrote, revealing that

Barnett 'was supposed to do day three of his deposition
here in Charleston on his AIR21 case [on Saturday],'
referring to a federal law that provides whistleblowers
protection in the aviation industry.

'John had been back and forth for quite some time
getting prepared,' he continued, providing a timeline of
what transpired in the days before Barnett's death.

'The defense examined him for their allowed seven hours

under the rules on Thursday.

'I cross examined him all day yesterday [Friday] and did
not finish. We agreed to continue this morning at 10 am
[co-counsel] Rob [Turkewitz] kept calling this morning
and his phone would go to voicemail.

'We then asked the hotel to check on him,' the South

Carolina jurist went on.

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'They found him in his truck dead from an ‘alleged’ self-

inflicted gunshot. We drove to the hotel and spoke with
the police and the coroner.'

The Charleston County coroner, meanwhile, confirmed

Monday the longtime Boeing staffer died Friday, while in
town for interviews linked to the case.

Boeing also responded to the former worker's death in

their own statement as news spread on Monday, saying
it was 'saddened by Mr. Barnett's passing.'

The statement did not address any aspects of the case,

but brass ultimately added: 'Our thoughts are with his
family and friends.'

Boeing's assembly plant in North Charleston - where the

deceased worked for decades - is seen here

The plant where Barnett worked for decades is where

Boeing builds the 787 Dreamliner, one of several crafts from
the airliner that's made headlines as of late. Pictured: an
unrelated United Airlines Boeing 787-9 takes off from Los
Angeles international Airport on July 30, 2022

On Monday, roughly 50 people were treated by first

responders after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying from
Australia to New Zealand experienced a 'technical event'
that caused 'a strong movement' jolting passengers in their
seats

As of writing, five remain hospitalized after the plane dipped

violently due to the unspecified issue, LATAM airline and first
responders both told AFP

Meanwhile, in a separate incident in early January, an

unused emergency exit door blew off a brand-new Boeing
737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International,
sparking a still-ongoing DOJ investigation

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The plant where Barnett worked for decades is where
Boeing builds the 787 Dreamliner, one of several crafts
from the airliner that's made headlines as of late.

On Monday, roughly 50 people were treated by first

responders after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying from
Australia to New Zealand experienced a 'technical event'
that caused 'a strong movement' jolting passengers in
their seats.

As of writing, five remain hospitalized after the plane

dipped violently due to the unspecified issue, LATAM
airline and first responders both told AFP.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident in early January, an

unused emergency exit door blew off a brand-new
Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland
International, sparking a still-ongoing DOJ investigation.

On Friday, shortly before the incident over the Indian

Ocean, Boeing said it believed the technical failure
involving the door stemmed from something that
occurred during production, where required
documents detailed the removal of a key part that failed
were never created.

Also on Friday, the company said it is 'committed to

continuing to cooperate fully and transparently with the
National Transportation Safety Board's investigation,'
which, more than three months later, remains ongoing.

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Barnett's job for 32 years was overseeing production

standards for the firm's planes - standards he said were
not met during his four years at the then-new plant in
Charleston from 2010 to 2014.

'The new leadership didn’t understand processes,'

Barnett told Corporate Crime Reporter in an interview in
2019 of how brass allegedly cut corners to get their then
state-of-the-art 7878s out on time.

'They brought them in from other areas of the company,'

he continued, two years after retitiring in 20017. 'The
new leadership team – from my director down – they all
came from St. Louis, Missouri. They said they were all
buddies there.”

'That entire team came down,' he went on. 'They were

from the military side. My impression was their mindset
was – we are going to do it the way we want to do it.
Their motto at the time was – we are in Charleston and
we can do anything we want.'

'They started pressuring us to not document defects, to

work outside the procedures, to allow defective material
to be installed without being corrected.

'They started bypassing procedures and not maintaining

configurement control of airplanes, not maintaining
control of non conforming parts – they just wanted to get
the planes pushed out the door and make the cash
register ring.'

South Carolina

Share or comment on this article: Boeing

whistleblower John Barnett is found dead in his truck
outside a South Carolina hotel just days after
testifying in lawsuit against the aviation giant

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