Boeing Whistleblower Who Died After Testifying Left a Note At Scene of His Death

John Barnett made headlines in 2019 when the former quality control engineer of Boeing claimed that the company’s airplanes may be faulty. In particular, he claimed that production line workers are pressured to put sub-standard parts into the aircraft. Boeing was under intense scrutiny at the time after two crashes involving their planes the year before. Barnett had worked for the company for 32 years before retiring in 2017. But in March this year, the whistleblower was found dead in his car with a gunshot wound.

The Boeing Whistleblower

Barnett, 62, was in Charleston, South Carolina, when he died, while in the process of testifying against the aircraft manufacturer juggernaut. He was found in his car in his hotel’s parking lot just before he was supposed to continue his deposition testimony about Boeing bypassing proper safety procedures.

The coroner declared Barnett’s death a suicide, and the ballistic report stated the bullet had been “fired by the firearm located in the victim’s hand.”  Investigators found a notebook with Barnett’s fingerprints on the car’s passenger seat, assumedly a suicide note. In it, he professed his love to his friends and family, and expressed, “I can’t do this any longer” and “I pray Boeing pays.” 

Before the autopsy, people were speculating if foul play was involved. However, the family still blames Boeing. Vicky Stokes, the deceased’s mother, says she holds the company responsible for her son’s death because of their breakneck work culture. 

When asked if she partially blames Boeing, she responded, “If this hadn’t gone on so long, I’d still have my son, and my sons would have their brother and we wouldn’t be sitting here. So in that respect, I do.” 

Before the police confirmed the death was by suicide, the family asserted that they don’t want his end to overshadow his legacy of fighting for the sake of public safety.

“He thought of himself as trying to do the right thing. And that’s what bothered him, that nobody would listen as to what was going on there,” said his brother, Rodney Barnett.

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“It keeps me up at night…“

John Barnett retired due to job-related stress, but he had spent seven years prior as Boeing’s quality manager. Before his resignation, he filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the South Carolina factory that manufactures the 787 Dreamliner. In turn, the agency stated there was no reason to believe Barnett had overstepped on any whistleblower laws. 

In 2021, about four years after his retirement, Barnett filed a lawsuit against Boeing, listing alleged safety concerns, including defective oxygen tanks, titanium shavings falling into electrical wires, and managers pushing to “cut corners”. Additionally, substandard parts were taken from scrap bins and put into aircrafts so there won’t be any production delays. Workers didn’t follow procedures to track all of the parts so discarded ones could go missing without notice. 

The company denied all allegations, but a 2017 report from the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed some of the problems that were asserted. It showed that 53 “non-conforming” parts had disappeared and ordered the company to fix this issue. 

Barnett suffered from anxiety and PTSD from his time as quality manager. “It’s taken a serious mental and emotional toll on me,” Barnett said in 2019, about advocating for the safety of the planes under his jurisdiction. “That’s what my story is about, is telling my story enough to where the right people get involved to make sure that these airplanes are made correctly. Because the 787 carries 288 passengers plus crew. So the last thing I want to do is wake up in the morning and see a 787 has gone down… I mean, it’s just, it keeps me up at night,” he said.

“He saw this coming…”

Rodney Barnett explains that John told him about how the company responded by hampering his career and embarrassing him at meetings instead of properly addressing his concerns. John Barnett himself had expressed this sentiment in the 2022 Netflix documentary ‘Downfall: The Case Against Boeing’. “Boeing quit listening to their employees. So every time I’d raise my hand and say, ‘hey we got a problem here’, they would attack the messenger and… and ignore the message,” he said.

Meanwhile, Boeing stated they had addressed Barnett’s concerns before his retirement in 2017. The company released a statement after his death, saying, “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

According to his attorneys, Brian Knowles and Rob Turkewitz, Barnett’s intentions were not vindictive. “He wasn’t trying to hurt Boeing,” Turkewitz explains, “he was trying to save Boeing. He saw this coming and he said, ‘You know, this is all going to come down on Boeing.'”

This proved true as the company was struck with negative press about their airplanes’ safety, especially with the 737 Max planes, whose most recent controversy occurred in January 2024 when a door blew off mid-flight. Additionally, the 737 Max 8 was involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.

The Future of Boeing

Meanwhile, Turkewitz asked Congress to reform the law on whistleblowing so employees could solve their issues with Boeing more efficiently. He had seen firsthand the effects of fighting against Boeing had on Barnett. Right before his demise, Boeing’s lawyers questioned Barnett and delved into painful experiences at the company. 

“That was wearing on him,” Turkewitz said. “I think it all came back to him.” But both lawyers didn’t see any signs of suicidal ideation. “He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on,” they said in a joint statement. “We didn’t see any indication he would take his own life. No one can believe it.”

This year, the Federal Aviation Administration completed a six-week audit of Boeing and discovered “multiple instances where the company allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements”. Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s CEO, announced he will retire at the end of 2024. The US Department of Justice may prosecute the aircraft company over the 737 Max plane crashes.

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