Two Boeing whistleblowers die of “infection” following the death of one from a gunshot wound
Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems, a Boeing subcontractor, who gained notoriety for disclosing safety issues and purported misbehavior by the aircraft manufacturer, passed away on Tuesday following a serious illness, according to family members on Thursday.
The fact that Dean is the second whistleblower connected to Boeing to pass away in less than two months after accusing the massive airplane manufacturer of concealing technical issues with one of its models is extremely unsettling.
Dean was among the first to claim that the manufacturer purposefully disregarded the 737 MAX’s well-known flaws, which may have caused aviation mishaps.
According to the Seattle Times, the whistleblower passed away following a “short and sudden illness”.
According to his family, Dean, 45, of Wichita, Kansas, was in good health when he began complaining of breathing difficulties around two weeks ago.
The Seattle Times reported his death and stated that he was taken to a hospital right away. His aunt informed the newspaper that Dean’s decline from that point on was “brutal” and “heartbreaking.”
After fellow whistleblower John Barnett passed away from a gunshot wound that is still under investigation by authorities, Dean also died mysteriously.
The same South Carolina-based legal firm was defending both whistleblowers.
The coroner’s report following Barnett’s death in Charleston, South Carolina—the same city where Boeing operates its 787 production facility—stated that the whistleblower’s cause of death was “self-inflicted gunshot injury.”
“In his truck, they discovered him. I am at a loss for words. “I’ve never encountered anything like this in my life,” said reporter Brian Knowles, one of his attorneys.
“The company was saddened by Barnett’s death,” a statement from Boeing stated.
Regarding the “close timing and circumstances” of the two deaths, Knowles declined to opine.
“We need whistleblowers. In the interest of society, they expose corruption and wrongdoing. It requires a great deal of bravery to speak up. Knowles said.
“These are challenging situations. Right now, Josh and John’s families are in our thoughts and prayers.”
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