MYSTERIOUS

Boeing Whistleblower Found Dead Amid Testimony Against Company

John Barnett was found in his truck in a hotel parking lot with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A former quality-control engineer at Boeing who testified in recent days in a whistleblower lawsuit against the aircraft giant was found dead over the weekend, the BBC reported. John Barnett, 62, had been in Charleston, South Carolina, to be deposed in the case last week, according to the news service. When he failed to turn up on Saturday, “inquiries were made at his hotel,” where he was found in his truck in the parking lot. The Charleston County coroner confirmed Barnett’s death to the BBC and said the cause was an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. A police investigation in the matter is ongoing, and it was not immediately clear if foul play is suspected. In a statement to the BBC, Boeing said, “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.” Barnett, a 32-year Boeing veteran, told the BBC in 2019 that he’d found faulty emergency oxygen bottles while working on the 787 Dreamliner a few years prior. He sued the company after claiming it slow-walked his complaint, sidelining him and eventually pushing him into retirement. Boeing has denied wrongdoing.

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