(VitalNews.org) – A former employee of Boeing came out as a whistleblower to bring light to the manufacturing issues with their planes, but he has been discovered dead from what reports say is a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
John Barnett, 62 years old, was found dead on Saturday from a self-inflicted wound according to reports from a coroner in South Carolina. “Charleston City Police Department is the investigating agency. No further details are available at this time,” Charleston County Coroner said.
Barnett worked at Boeing for more than thirty years and retired from the company in 2017. “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends,” Boeing said in a statement.
Suspicions have emerged since John Barnett recently became a whistleblower, exposing potential wrong-doings Boeing committed, in a lawsuit against the company.
In recent years Barnett was heard saying that Boeing purposely fitted planes with faulty parts and he also said that their 787 Dreamliner flight could leave people without oxygen in the event of an emergency. Boeing originally denied these claims and stated that they follow all procedures.
Boeing has been under the spotlight after one of their 737 MAX 9 planes had a door plug blow out and fall to the ground while in the air. Following this, there was an extensive investigation, and information was released about other issues regarding Boeing planes.
Just recently a Boeing plane experienced a “technical event” that prompted “strong movement” which resulted in minor injuries for many passengers. Boeing’s issues came into the spotlight after two crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX planes within two years.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration gave Boeing a 90-day window to come up with a plan to fix its production problems. In a separate report, the FAA found problems with Boeing’s safety culture while saying that many employees feared retaliation if they spoke of safety concerns.
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