Boeing whistleblower John Barnett found dead in US

Former Boeing employee who came forward with claims of safety violations at the massive airplane manufacturer found dead. 

John Barnett, 62, passed away on Saturday from what seemed to be a "self-inflicted" wound, according to a South Carolina coroner's report on Monday. 

The investigation is being conducted by the Charleston City Police Department. In a statement to news reporters, the office of Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O'Neal stated that no other information was available at this time.  

After learning of Barnett's passing, Boeing, where he worked for more than thirty years until retiring in 2017, sent out sympathies.  

In a statement, the Seattle-based aircraft maker said, "We are saddened by Mr. Barnett's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends." 

Brian Knowles, a lawyer in South Carolina who represented Barnett, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The BBC, which first reported the news of Barnett’s death, said the former employee had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company in recent days. 

In 2019, Barnett was quoted by the BBC alleging that Boeing had deliberately fitted planes with faulty parts and that passengers on its 787 Dreamliner could be left without oxygen in the event of a sudden decompression. 

Boeing denied Barnett’s claims at the time, insisting that it adhered to the highest safety standards. 

In 2014, an Al Jazeera investigation released after the Dreamliner was briefly grounded following two battery failures revealed that workers at Boeing’s Charleston plant had serious concerns about the aircraft’s safety. 

Along with Airbus, based in the Netherlands, Boeing leads the commercial aircraft market. Since two tragic disasters involving the Boeing 737 MAX in 2018 and 2019, the company's safety record has been under increasing criticism.  

On Monday, a Boeing plane traveling from Australia to New Zealand had what airline officials characterized as a "strong movement" brought on by a "technical event," injuring dozens of individuals, the most of whom were minor. 

Since the beginning of March, there have been several safety-related incidents, the most recent of which was an engine fire that resulted in a Boeing 737 having to make an emergency landing in Houston, Texas, not long after takeoff.  

On Saturday, US media outlets reported that prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation into January’s mid-flight blowout of a Boeing 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines. 

A preliminary report by the US National Transportation Safety Board into the incident found evidence suggesting that four key bolts designed to hold the door in place had been missing. 

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week it had given Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to correct problems in its production and shortage procedures following an audit that identified “non-compliance issues”. 

A separate FAA report released last month found serious problems with Boeing’s safety culture, including fears of retaliation among employees with safety concerns.