John Barn, a former whistleblower who exposed several safety flaws and negligence on the part of aircraft giant Boeing, was found dead Saturday in a hotel parking lot in South Carolina, according to local authorities.
The Charleston County Coroner’s Office reported that Barnett, 62, died Friday from an apparently self-inflicted wound. The circumstance has prompted investigators to focus on suicide, although police are not ruling out alternative leads. Barnett was in Charleston to be heard in connection with a lawsuit against his former company.
The working relationship between Barnett and Boeing, which had spanned 32 years, had come to an abrupt end in 2019 with serious allegations launched by the former against the latter. Specifically, Barnett claimed that employees at Boeing’s South Carolina plant, forced to work grueling shifts, would often fit the planes with parts that did not meet federal safety standards. He had also alleged the installation of faulty oxygen systems, which possibly rendered one in 4 oxygen masks inoperable.
Although Boeing denied Barnett’s allegations, a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) investigation later partially confirmed his version, finding that more than 50 “non-compliant” parts had been misplaced within the company’s system and were no longer traceable.
In recent months, Boeing has been caught in the eye of the storm over production defects on its 737 Max aircraft, one example of which – operated by Alaska Airlines – lost a hatch in mid-air last January. The near-tragedy persuaded federal authorities to turn the spotlight on one of the two major carrier manufacturers (along with Europe’s Airbus), revealing systematically inadequate quality controls.
Barnett’s allegations, however, reportedly had no bearing on the 737 Max or the Washington production facility where it is manufactured.
