An internal Boeing quality control inspector who began cooperating with the investigation is found “shot to death” in a parking lot; Boeing representatives said they were saddened by the incident, the Independent reported on March 13.
John Barnett worked for Boeing for 32 years, including as a quality manager at the North Charleston plant in South Carolina, where the long-haul 787 Dreamliner is built. Barnett was forced to retire in 2017 after company officials believed he had gone beyond his authority in discussing quality control.
Mr. Barnett’s retirement came after he became embroiled in a lawsuit against his former employer, although Boeing officials deny this, arguing that Mr. Barnett’s voluntary retirement was planned in advance and “in no way prevented Mr. Barnett from continuing to carry out any work in his profession.”
On March 9, Mr. Barnett’s body was found in his truck in a hotel parking lot with signs of a gunshot wound. “self-inflicted” as stated in the police report.
It should be noted that on the eve of his death, Mr. Barnett acted as a witness in the trial against Boeing, expressing previously known facts that he had made public 5 years ago. He was expected to appear in court on March 9 to give new testimony.
Recall that in 2019, Barnett spoke in an interview with an English broadcaster about problems with the oxygen supply system on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. According to the engineer, a quarter of the 300 oxygen cylinders analyzed were found to be defective, which could lead to the death of passengers if the cabin was depressurized.
As Barnett continued, Boeing management restricted its life support system testing work, so it filed a complaint with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but the company managed to reach a settlement, noting formal errors in the presented document. , in addition to the defective cylinders. disappeared somewhere.”
According to Barnett, Boeing’s entire production chain is in a systemic crisis and the quality control system has gone from being an auxiliary tool to an extraneous element that interferes with increasing profits by infinitely reducing the cost of labor and the materials. “I’m concerned about the 737 and 787 programs because they essentially embrace the theory that quality is an overhead, not a value-add.” Barnett said in an interview with TMZ reporters Charles Latibeaudiere and Harvey Levin.
Among other accusations, Barnett also alleged that production line workers at the Boeing plant in South Carolina, for reasons of economy and at the request of their superiors, instead of new certified components “Deliberately installed parts found in trash bins.”
Boeing said in a statement about Mr. Barnett’s death: “We are saddened by the passing of Mr. Barnett and our thoughts are with his family and friends.” It should be noted that Boeing did not take the opportunity to express concern about the cause of the sudden death of a key prosecution witness against the company. In his brief epitaph the usual words in these cases about the many years of work of the deceased were not spoken, but his relatives were mentioned, on whom the prospects of establishing the causes of death largely depend.
Recall that lately the Boeing company is constantly involved in news about accidents of civil aircraft of its production, the cause of which is said to be defects in materials and violations of production technology.
Note also that Boeing has a long history of corruption scandals. Several senior managers of the company were involved in corruption schemes and were forced to resign or even went to prison.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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