Another whistleblower about defects in Boeing planes suddenly fell ill and died in the United States. We are talking about 45-year-old Joshua Dean, writes Seattle Times. Previously, he spoke about the company’s ignorance of the shortcomings of the 737 Max aircraft. In March, former Boeing quality control engineer John Barnett was found dead after he also spoke about irregularities in the assembly of the company’s aircraft. Details are in the Gazeta.Ru article.
Unexpected death
Joshua Dean, another whistleblower who spoke about violations in the production of aircraft by the American aircraft manufacturer Boeing, unexpectedly died in the United States, Seattle Times reported.
Dean, 45, died as a result of a “sudden, fast-spreading infection”, his family told the newspaper. According to the publication, the man was in critical condition due to staphylococcal pneumonia for two weeks before his death.
He was hospitalized in April due to breathing problems. The cause of death was organ failure, the material says. The publication notes that Dean, who lived in Kansas, was in good health.
A representative of Spirit AeroSystems (an American manufacturer of aircraft structures) expressed condolences to the family of his former employee Dean, noting that his death was “stunning news” for the company.
Who is Joshua Dean
Dean is a former quality auditor for Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems. He became one of the first whistleblowers about defects in Boeing aircraft. In particular, the man spoke about the possible ignorance of manufacturing deficiencies in the 737 Max aircraft.
Dean testified in a lawsuit against Spirit shareholders and also filed a complaint with the US Federal Aviation Administration alleging “serious and gross violations by senior management regarding the quality of the Boeing 737 MAX production line” at Spirit AeroSystems.
He was fired in April 2023. In this regard, he contacted the US Department of Labor, insisting that the company’s management decided to take revenge for the fact that he expressed concerns about aviation safety.
John Barnett’s suicide
On March 12, it was reported that former Boeing quality control engineer John Barnett was found dead in his car days after testifying in a lawsuit against the company in the United States.
According to investigators, the man allegedly committed suicide. The investigation into the incident is still ongoing.
As the publication notes, the 62-year-old man worked for the company for 32 years and resigned in 2017. Barnett has repeatedly reported problems with aircraft assembly. In particular, he alleged that employees, in order to avoid delays in the production of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, installed defective parts on them.
Another informant
Boeing’s main problems began after two crashes in a row of 737 MAX airliners. In 2020, the US Congress published a final report on these incidents, in which 346 people died. The report says, “a horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing’s management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA”.
In April 2024, former Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour said that due to safety problems with the manufacturer’s aircraft, there is a risk of plane crashes with hundreds of victims.
Salehpour, who worked at the aircraft manufacturing company for more than 10 years, spoke at a hearing on the Boeing case in the US Congress. He said he noticed a problem with gaps between key parts of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft’s skin. The defect, he said, applies to more than a thousand aircraft in operation.
“They produce faulty planes. I have seen people jumping on parts of the fuselage during assembly to get them aligned,” he said at the hearing.
The engineer emphasized that he was subjected to physical threats from management after he tried to raise the issue of aircraft safety in April 2023.
Problems with Boeing planes
The aircraft company received increased attention in January 2024 after a high-profile incident involving an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX aircraft in which a door came off in mid-air due to loose bolts. Passengers sued the company. The situation also attracted the attention of the US Federal Aviation Administration. As a result of the examination, loose bolts were found on several aircraft of the company – the manufacturer failed 33 out of 89 checks of the regulator.
They also checked the company Spirit AeroSystems, which produces fuselages for the 737 MAX model. The manufacturer failed 7 out of 13 checks. For example, it turned out that the manufacturer’s mechanics checked the tightness of the door using a hotel key card, and used liquid soap as a lubricant when working with the seal.
After the door incident, a series of 737 MAX malfunctions followed. For example, at the end of January, an Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane made an emergency landing at the airport in the American city of Tucson (Arizona) due to engine failure. According to Air Canada, there were three crew members on board the plane and no passengers.
