Well-known Boeing critic and whistleblower John Barnett was found shot to death Saturday in Charleston, South Carolina. According to the BBC, the local coroner’s office said the gunshot wound that killed him was “self inflicted” and that police are investigating. Barnett’s body was found in his truck in a hotel parking lot. He had completed two days of depositions concerning a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against Boeing. He was found after he failed to show up for his third day of testimony. Boeing told BBC it was saddened by Barnett’s death.
Barnett spent seven of his 32 years at Boeing as quality control manager at Boeing’s 787 plant in Charleston. According to Corporate Crime Reporter, he filed whistleblower complaints in 2019 alleging that upper management was ordering plant workers to install non-conforming parts in aircraft without documenting the flaws, saying they “just wanted to get the planes pushed out the door and make the cash register ring.” The FAA halted production of 787s from January 2021 to August 2022 due to improper shimming of the gaps between fuselage parts. There have been other manufacturing flaws flagged by the FAA on the 787.
Barnett gave numerous interviews from 2019 to 2022 in which he claimed Boeing had adopted a corner-cutting philosophy and that he would not fly on a 787. He most recently chimed in on the loss of a fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 on Jan. 5 near Portland, saying the plane was rushed back into service and that he was not surprised the 737 also had manufacturing issues. “Once you understand what’s happening inside of Boeing, you’ll see why we’re seeing these kinds of issues,” Barnett told ABC News in Australia in late January.
Who wants to be the next whistleblower? Do you have a will?
Wow! How convenient! Seems mighty suspicious to me.
This whole “suicide” thing just doesn’t sit right. A man in the middle of a lawsuit against Boeing, a man who wouldn’t fly on a plane he helped build himself… suddenly decides to end it all? Hmm!
This may be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Where’s the video?
Vince Foster and Jeffery Epstein would likely agree …
Swamp as far as the eye can see!
Wasn’t he scheduled to testify against the Clintons next month?
At least whistleblowers are LISTENED to in the US! What is the situation like pre accident? Is there risk in going public with a maintenance/production problem if the company/flying school/club refuse to take action after serious errors have been pointed out?
I wonder how Boeing employees feel right about now? A real moral booster huh. Any bets on when the employee exodus begins?
Short term focus on profits coupled with social engineering of the work force does have consequences. You can’t escape business physics.
The “authorities” are emboldened knowing their spin will be reported as fact by a controlled MSM. Of which AvWeb is not a part. As far as I can tell.
KckC is absolutely correct. Research the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act.
This doesn’t seem odd to me at all. It stinks to high Heaven. He’s not the first whistleblower to suddenly commit suicide. Some of them even said ahead of time that they were happy and not feeling suicidal.
Then… dead.
When you say something like that without giving any examples it helps the people you are accusing because those statements can immediately be characterized as conspiracy theories.
Don’t make noise, bring receipts.
Then again, just maybe his testimony wasn’t holding water. At least wait until the facts are out before you naysayers chime in.
Now that he is dead will the “facts” ever come out?
I find it odd that BBC seems to be the lead news outlet here? Not sure I understand why.
I can’t find anything on this in the New York times.
Times has a story today.
Ditto. That was the first odd thing I noticed. Not a big fan of bashing MSM, but my suspicions are mounting. This tidbit does not help.
The quick assignment of cause-of-death indicates the evidence was likely unassailable, likely physical backed by review of surveillance video. Why he took that path would be another question.
Evidence was clear: Two self inflicted gunshots to the head. (kidding)
Too many things happening that prove him right for him to be so depressed as to commit suicide. This murder wasn’t so much for the fear of something coming out as it was the carrying out of a previous threat.
If world leaders keep getting away with it, others will certainly follow. I can’t say what happened here, but if so many people are immediately suspicious, this sort of thing has clearly become a problem.
Yet another reason I do not understand fans of Putin.
Non Sequitur.
Yes, it follows nicely.
Leaders do bad thing
Others copy it.
People start to suspect the bad thing was done when they previously would not have.
Do you understand, now?
The “suicide” happened in a hotel parking lot. The hotel must have security cameras.
He was preparing for testimony at a trial against Boeing. And now he is dead, allegedly of self inflicted gunshot wounds. This incident reeks of corruption.
Reportedly he still had his finger on the trigger, which is practically impossible for a temple shot from a sitting position. A crime scene investigator says he has never even seen the gun stay in the victim’s hand after the subsequent two foot drop.
The thing about suicide is that it’s often determined with very little investigation. It’s the coroner’s call. Detectives might be assigned to investigate a murder, and such investigations can be extensive (okay, but not always). No one investigates a suicide after the death certificate is signed. Same for “natural causes” deaths, of which there are many. May he RIP.
Mr. Barnett was quoted by his lawyers to have said how pleased he was his deposition was almost over and he could go back to a more normal life. He expressed to his team a number of things he was looking forward to. Doesn’t sound like someone ready to pull the trigger!