John Barnett, a former Boeing quality control engineer who testified last week in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against the company, was found dead. BBC report.
Barnett, 62, who worked for Boeing for 30 years and retired from the company in 2017, was found Saturday at a motel in Charleston, South Carolina. The local coroner’s office said Barnett appeared to have died by shooting himself.
“In the days before his death, he had been giving evidence in whistleblower proceedings against the company,” the BBC reported. Barnett was scheduled to return to court Saturday for a third day of testimony related to the lawsuit, but never showed up. BBC report. After he didn’t show up, someone called looking for Barnett. He was later found dead in his truck in the parking lot of the motel where he was staying, the outlet wrote.
Gizmodo asked the coroner’s office if an autopsy was performed on Barnett. While the office did not answer the question, it did issue the following statement regarding his death:
Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal released the name of John Barnett, a 62-year-old man from Louisiana. Mr. Barnett died on March 9, 2024, from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. The City of Charleston Police Department is the investigative agency. No further details are available at this time.
When Gizmodo reached out to Boeing for comment, it issued the following statement: “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Barnett has previously expressed concern that Boeing employees installed “substandard parts” on the planes and that some planes had “faulty oxygen systems” that could cause a large number of oxygen masks to malfunction. Hill wrote. A subsequent FAA investigation appeared to corroborate some of Barnett’s claims. The lawsuit at the time of Barnett’s death was a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit he filed against the company.Barnett blames Boeing push him to retire in response to the safety concerns he raised. Boeing denies any wrongdoing.
Gizmodo also reached out to Barnett’s attorney but has yet to receive a response. We will update this story if there is any.