A former worker at Boeing, who had raised serious problems about the company’s production, was found dead in Charleston, South Carolina.
A news release from the Charleston County Coroner’s Office said that a man named John Barnett, who was 62 years old, died on March 9. It seems like he shot himself. The police are still investigating and waiting for the official cause of death and any other information that might help understand what happened.
John was giving information to the media through his lawyers. They said he was answering questions for a court case where he was being punished for telling the truth. It was almost over. He was feeling happy and excited to leave this part of his life behind and start something new. We didn’t think he would kill himself. Nobody can believe it. We are all very sad. We need to know more about what happened to John. The Charleston police have to look into this really well and tell the public what they find. We need to carefully look at every detail.
His family told NPR that Barnett’s case is going to trial in June. They said he wants to go to court and hopes it will make Boeing change its culture.
His lawyers, Robert Turkewitz and Brian Knowles, said that Barnett is a very brave and honest man with high moral values. He loved his family, friends, Boeing company, his Boeing co-workers, and the pilots and people who flew on Boeing planes very much. We hardly ever met someone with a more honest and direct personality.
The police had to go to a Holiday Inn in Charleston to check on someone’s safety just before 10:20 am on Saturday. When the police got there, they saw Barnett sitting in the driver’s seat of a truck in the parking lot. He had been shot in the head. He was carrying a gun. Barnett was said to be dead when the police arrived.
The police report also mentioned that they found a paper next to him that seemed like a note.
The hotel got a call from someone named “Rob” asking to check on his coworker, John Barnett. This made the hotel staff go to the truck in the parking lot.
The news said that Barnett was in Charleston for some legal interviews and was going to be questioned more on Saturday. He was discovered dead when he didn’t show up.
Barnett’s death and send our condolences to his family. Barnett passed away, and we are thinking of his family and friends.
The police in Charleston said they know that many people around the world are interested in this case. They want to make sure the investigation is based on facts and evidence, not people guessing or making things up. Because the investigation is sensitive, we can’t do interviews with the media right now. “We do this to follow the rules and make sure our investigations are fair. ”
Barnett used to be a manager at Boeing and had been there for a long time. He found pieces of metal hanging over the wires that control the plane’s movements. This was reported by the media from a story in the New York Times in 2019.
Barnett said to the Times that if those “sharp” pieces went into the wiring, the outcome could be very bad.
“As a quality manager at Boeing, you are responsible for catching any mistakes before they affect the safety of the airplanes that people fly on,” Barnett told the Times. “I haven’t seen a plane from Charleston that I would feel comfortable flying on because I’m not sure if it’s safe and in good condition. ”
Brad Zaback, who is in charge of the plant, sent a message to the plant’s workers and gave it to the media. He said that the Times’ report doesn’t show the program and our team at the plant accurately.
Zaback said that the Times refused to visit the plant, and he also said that quality is very important to them. He added that the plant makes very good airplanes.
