In another matter involving Boeing that is separate from the recent mid-flight blowout incidents that have occurred at the aviation company, we have the death of a whistleblower, John Barnett, 62, who was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 9 in Charleston County, South Carolina. He was expected to be cross-examined by his legal team and Boeing on that day but never showed up. Barnett retired in 2017 (some reports say it was 2019) as a quality control manager. He raised concerns about the 787 Dreamliner.
BREAKING: ABC News reports that Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, who died this week, told a close family friend 'I ain't scared, but if anything happens to me, it's not suicide.'
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) March 15, 2024
Police are investigating after Barnett was discovered in a hotel car park in Charleston with a single gunshot wound to the head, along with what officers described as a "silver handgun" and a "white piece of paper that closely resembled a note." A coroner's report said he died from a "self-inflicted" wound, though the Charleston Police Department is still making inquiries.
After retiring in 2019 Barnett accused Boeing, his employee of 32 years, of cutting corners and using sub-standard parts to build planes. He claimed to have reported this to management and been ignored, though Boeing has denied this.
Speaking to ABC News 4 Jennifer, who didn't give a surname and was described by the network as a "close family friend" of Barnett, claimed he told her not to believe any reports of his suicide some time before his death.
She claimed he insisted "I ain't scared" before adding "but if anything happens to me it's not suicide."
Jennifer said: "I know he did not commit suicide there's no way. He loved life too much, he loved his family too much, he loved his brothers too much to put them through what they're going through right now...I think somebody didn't like what he had to say and wanted to shut him up and didn't want it to come back on anyone so that's why they made it look like a suicide."
Newsweek is unable to independently verify the claim made by the reported family friend in the interview.
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Barnett’s family appears to be leaning toward a hostile work environment theory that led to this tragic ending (via NY Post):
The family of the Boeing whistleblower found dead on the day he was scheduled to testify against the jetplane manufacturer blamed the company’s “hostile work environment” for his apparent suicide.
“He was suffering from PTSD and anxiety attacks as a result of being subjected to the hostile work environment at Boeing which we believe led to his death,” relatives of John Barnett said in the first remarks since his death.
[…]
Barnett, 62, loved working for Boeing until 2010 when he was transferred to Boeing’s 787 plant in Charleston, his family said Tuesday.
“Things greatly changed for him when he learned that upper management was pressuring the quality inspectors and managers to cut corners and to not follow processes and procedures which they were required by law to follow,” the family said.
They said Boeing pressured workers to look past defects to avoid slowing down the assembly line and those who refused “were labeled as trouble makers, retaliated against, and subjected to a hostile work environment.”
We’ll keep you updated.
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