As previously reported, Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was found dead from a ‘self-inflicted’ gunshot wound inside his vehicle outside a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina as he was testifying against the airplane company.
John Barnett was found dead on March 9 on day three of his deposition against Boeing. He worked for Boeing for 32 years until he retired in 2017.
“Barnett’s death came during a break in depositions in a whistleblower retaliation suit, where he alleged under-pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the assembly line.” the Daily Mail reported.
Charleston police are investigating after Barnett was found in his truck “suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.”
A suicide note was reportedly found next to Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, however, his lawyers are questioning whether he took his own life.
According to the Daily Mail, Barnett was reportedly found with a ‘silver handgun’ in his hand and his finger on the trigger. A suicide note was also found on the passenger side of the vehicle.
The contents of the note were not released.
Barnett’s lawyers are asking for a thorough probe because they don’t believe he committed suicide.
“John was in the midst of a deposition in his whistleblower case, which finally was nearing the end,” Barnett’s lawyers said, according to The New York Post. “He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on.”
Now this…
According to the New York Post, police dusted the inside of John Barnett’s vehicle which is an unusual move in a suicide investigation.
Also according to The Post, hotel workers who saw Barnett the night before he committed suicide say he seemed totally fine.
The New York Post reported:
Boeing whistleblower John Barnett “didn’t seem depressed” at dinner on the evening before he was mysteriously found dead in his car with a gunshot wound to his head, sources told The Post.
Lawyers, family friends and witnesses all say the 62-year-old was upbeat about finishing off giving testimony against his former employer in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised suspicious as to whether he’d take his own life.
An employee who works at the Holiday Inn where Barnett was found dead in the parking lot told The Post Barnett ate a quesadilla, drank a Coke, scrolled on his phone and seemed fine on the evening of Feb. 8.
“I didn’t think of him at all until I heard the news the next day. He didn’t seem upset at all,” the employee told The Post.
Barnett came forward with concerns about defective parts and serious problems with the oxygen masks.
The whistleblower told BBC that “sub-standard parts had even been removed from scrap bins and fitted to planes that were being built to prevent delays on the production line.”
“He also claimed that tests on emergency oxygen systems due to be fitted to the 787 showed a failure rate of 25%, meaning that one in four could fail to deploy in a real-life emergency.” – BBC reported.
Barnett’s apparent suicide comes after several Boeing planes have been grounded due to major issues with the aircraft’s construction.
A United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 suffered gear failure last Friday and crashed off the runway at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Friday’s gear failure comes one day after a United Airlines Boeing 777 plane was forced to make an emergency landing after it lost a tire during takeoff.
The United plane was taking off from San Francisco when one of the six tires detached from the aircraft and damaged several cars in the parking lot. The flight was diverted to LAX where it safely landed.
In January a large piece of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX blew out in mid-air.
The plane door flew off amid Boeing’s focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) hiring practices over a passenger’s safety.
