[DEI woke = going broke...] Boeing whistleblower John Barnett is found dead in his truck outside a South Carolina hotel just days after testifying in lawsuit against the aviation giant

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13185019/Boeing-whistleblower-
josh-barnett-dead-south-carolina.html

A former Boeing staffer who once raised concerns about the company's 
production standards has been found dead in the US. 

John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck in a hotel parking lot in 
South Carolina, cops said Monday - seven years after he retired following 
a 32-year career. 

The ex-quality manager at Boeing's North Charleston plant died from a 
'self-inflicted' wound, cops in Charleston said, adding that they were 
still investigating.

Barnett's death came during a break in depositions in a whistleblower 
retaliation suit, where he alleged under-pressure workers were 
deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the assembly line.

He said that in some cases, second-rate parts were literally removed from 
scrap bins, before being fitted to planes that were being built to prevent 
delays. A 2017 review by the FAA upheld some of his concerns, requiring 
Boeing to take action.

He had just given a deposition to Boeing's lawyers for the case this past 
week, his attorney Brian Knowles said.

In an email, he called his client's death 'tragic'.

'Today is a tragic day,' Knowles wrote, revealing that Barnett 'was 
supposed to do day three of his deposition here in Charleston on his AIR21 
case [on Saturday],' referring to a federal law that provides 
whistleblowers protection in the aviation industry.

'John had been back and forth for quite some time getting prepared,' he 
continued, providing a timeline of what transpired in the days before 
Barnett's death.

'The defense examined him for their allowed seven hours under the rules on 
Thursday. 

'I cross examined him all day yesterday [Friday] and did not finish. We 
agreed to continue this morning at 10 am [co-counsel] Rob [Turkewitz] kept 
calling this morning and his phone would go to voicemail. 

'We then asked the hotel to check on him,' the South Carolina jurist went 
on.

'They found him in his truck dead from an 'alleged' self-inflicted 
gunshot. We drove to the hotel and spoke with the police and the coroner.'

The Charleston County coroner, meanwhile, confirmed Monday the longtime 
Boeing staffer died Friday, while in town for interviews linked to the 
case. 

Boeing also responded to the former worker's death in their own statement 
as news spread on Monday, saying it was 'saddened by Mr. Barnett's 
passing.'

The statement did not address any aspects of the case, but brass 
ultimately added: 'Our thoughts are with his family and friends.'

The plant where Barnett worked for decades is where Boeing builds the 787 
Dreamliner, one of several crafts from the airliner that's made headlines 
as of late.

On Monday, roughly 50 people were treated by first responders after a 
Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying from Australia to New Zealand experienced a 
'technical event' that caused 'a strong movement' jolting passengers in 
their seats.

As of writing, five remain hospitalized after the plane dipped violently 
due to the unspecified issue, LATAM airline and first responders both told 
AFP.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident in early January, an unused emergency 
exit door blew off a brand-new Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from 
Portland International, sparking a still-ongoing DOJ investigation. 

On Friday, shortly before the incident over the Indian Ocean, Boeing said 
it believed the technical failure involving the door stemmed from 
something that occurred during production, where required documents 
detailed the removal of a key part that failed were never created.

Also on Friday, the company said it is 'committed to continuing to 
cooperate fully and transparently with the National Transportation Safety 
Board's investigation,' which, more than three months later, remains 
ongoing.

Barnett's job for 32 years was overseeing production standards for the 
firm's planes - standards he said were not met during his four years at 
the then-new plant in Charleston from 2010 to 2014.

'The new leadership didn't understand processes,' Barnett told Corporate 
Crime Reporter in an interview in 2019 of how brass allegedly cut corners 
to get their then state-of-the-art 7878s out on time.

'They brought them in from other areas of the company,' he continued, two 
years after retiring in 20017. 'The new leadership team – from my director 
down – they all came from St. Louis, Missouri. They said they were all 
buddies there.'

'That entire team came down,' he went on. 'They were from the military 
side. My impression was their mindset was - we are going to do it the way 
we want to do it. Their motto at the time was - we are in Charleston and 
we can do anything we want.'

'They started pressuring us to not document defects, to work outside the 
procedures, to allow defective material to be installed without being 
corrected. 

'They started bypassing procedures and not maintaining configurement 
control of airplanes, not maintaining control of non conforming parts – 
they just wanted to get the planes pushed out the door and make the cash 
register ring.

'That entire team came down,' he went on. 'They were from the military 
side. My impression was their mindset was - we are going to do it the way 
we want to do it. Their motto at the time was - we are in Charleston and 
we can do anything we want.' 

He also said he had uncovered serious problems with the plane's oxygen 
systems, alleging that one in four breathing masks would not work in the 
event of an emergency. 

Barnett claimed he alerted superiors at the plant about his misgivings, 
but no action was ever taken. Boeing denied this, as well as his claims.

However, a 2017 review by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) went 
on to stand up some of Barnett's qualms, including finding that at least 
53 'non-conforming' parts - as they put it - were misplaced, and 
considered lost. 

Boeing was ordered to take immediate remedial action, by locating and 
detailing the lost parts.

After the review, the company went on to also concede that it had 
'identified some oxygen bottles received from the supplier that were not 
deploying properly', but denied Barnett's claims that any were actually 
fitted on aircraft. 

Meanwhile, last week, the FAA said a six-week audit found 'multiple 
instances where [Boeing] allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing 
quality control requirements.' 

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said Boeing must develop a comprehensive 
plan to address 'systemic quality-control issues' within 90 days after an 
all-day February 27 meeting with CEO Dave Calhoun, but did not say the 
specific corrective actions Boeing and Spirit must take.

 He sent summary of its findings to the companies in its completed audit.

'Boeing must commit to real and profound improvements,' Whitaker explained 
at the time. 'We are going to hold them accountable every step of the way, 
with mutually understood milestones and expectations.'

Calhoun responded in a statement that Boeing's leadership team was 
'totally committed' to addressing FAA concerns and developing the plan, 
after Whitaker previously said in January the goal of the audit was 'to 
look at the system, look at how the inspections are done, where they're 
done, how the interaction is with the suppliers, how the handoff happens, 
just the whole process to really understand how it works and where the 
faults might be.'

Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselage for the now scrutinized MAX, 
said it is 'in communication with Boeing and the FAA on appropriate 
corrective actions.'

Boeing said in response that 'by virtue of our quality stand-downs, the 
FAA audit findings and the recent expert review panel report, we have a 
clear picture of what needs to be done.'

Meanwhile, the firm is now under criminal investigation for the door 
incident on the Max plane this past January, during which feds will 
examine whether Boeing has met the conditions of the 2021 settlement 
reached after the fatal 2018 and 2019 crashes that killed 346 people.

The first occurred when a Max 8 operated by Indonesia's Lion Air plunged 
into the Java Sea in October 2018.

The second was when an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crashed nearly 
straight down into a field six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa in 
March 2019.

Boeing reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the FBI and the 
Transportation Department in the wake of the crashes, admitting that two 
former employees had misled the FAA over how much training a new flight 
control system would require. 

If the Justice Department finds that Boeing has violated the terms of that 
settlement, they could face prosecution on the original count of 
defrauding the US.  

Boeing declined to comment on the criminal investigation. DailyMail.com 
contacted Alaska Airlines for comment. 

Boeing is also facing a civil lawsuit from a group of passengers onboard 
the flight.

Earlier this week, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board 
accused Boeing of failing to provide some key records sought in its 
ongoing investigation into the mid-air cabin door emergency.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said investigators have sought the names of 
the 25 people who work on door plugs at a Boeing facility in Renton, 
Washington, but have not received them from Boeing. 

'It is absurd that two months later we don't have it,' Homendy said at a 
Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday.

Boeing insisted that it had initially provided the NTSB with some of the 
names of Boeing employees, including door specialists it believed would 
have relevant information.

Senator Ted Cruz, the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, called it 
'utterly unacceptable' that the NTSB was not receiving full cooperation 
from Boeing.

Homendy also confirmed that the MAX 9 door plug had moved during prior 
flights, citing markings on the door. 

The door plug incident has been followed by a string of bad press for 
Boeing, which has made headlines in recent weeks for issues with planes - 
including an engine exploding on a flight out of Texas and a wheel falling 
off on take-off at San Francisco. 

Last month, another Alaska Airlines plane landed safely in Portland with 
its cargo door open.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1437 from Los Cabos, Mexico, arrived at Portland 
International Airport and photos show the open door. 

It's unclear how long the door was open for, but the flight did not 
require an emergency landing.

There was no indication that the door was open during the flight, 
according to crew members, which points to the door opening after landing.

'Upon landing at PDX on March 1, Alaska Airlines flight 1437 was 
discovered to have the forward cargo door unsealed,' Alaska airlines said 
in a statement. 

'There was no indication to the crew that the door was unsealed during 
flight and all indications point to the door partially opening after 
landing.

'Our maintenance teams inspected the aircraft, replaced a spring in the 
door, tested the door and reentered it into service.'

After relocating in May, Boeing has sought to move past the fallout from 
the two crashes, with the wrongful death inconsistencies now serving as 
its last obstacle.

Such disputes over damages and the deceased’s final moments are nounusual, 
legal experts told the Journal, namely in states like Illinois where laws 
exist only allowing damages dished out for a plaintiff's grief and loss, 
and not suffering. 

Pointing to a lack sufficient evidence the victims experienced pain and 
suffering between their injuries and deaths, Boeing attorneys say the 
company should not be liable for those proposed payments.

That battle over whether the plane maker should have to pay for the 
victims' suffering comes more than two years after Boeing admitted 
responsibility for the second crash as part of a deal to obtain legal 
immunity from the federal government.

The company, at the time, conceded to US District Judge Reed O'Connor that 
the company had conspired to defraud the United States when it lied about 
the planes' safety features in hearings and documents after the crashes, 
which left all Max jets grounded worldwide for nearly two years. That cost 
Boeing more than $20 billion. 

The deal saw attorneys for the plaintiffs agree to take potential punitive 
damages off the table in the suits - of which there were roughly 80. 
Punitive damages refer to the amounts of money defendants are ruled to pay 
as part of their punishment.

Under the controversial deal, the Justice Department agreed not to 
prosecute the company for conspiracy to defraud the government, 
effectively granting it legal immunity.

Families of the victims quickly spoke out against the decision, however, 
demanding justice for the victims. Both Boeing and the DOJ opposed 
reopening the agreement.

In a court filing in November, the Justice Department said it did not 
oppose undoing the agreement and properly arraigning Boeing, but said 
undoing the agreement 'would impose serious hardships on the parties and 
the many victims who have received compensation.'

As backlash from families persisted, the Justice Department in January 
announced that it would do away with the 2021 deal - which saw the company 
pay $2.5 billion to the Justice Department as part of a settlement - and 
move forward with the manufacturer's arraignment. 

At the time, Boeing’s chief safety officer, Mike Delaney, entered a not-
guilty plea on behalf of the planemaker. During the arraignment, relatives 
of those killed decried the company, saying it 'committed the deadliest 
corporate crime in U.S. history.'

The planes, however, were cleared to fly again in 2021, after Boeing 
overhauled an automated flight-control system that activated erroneously 
in both crashes, after promising to look into the plane's safety issues. 

Officials, however, would only choose to ground 737s after a second crash, 
this time in Ethiopia, just five months later.

Following an investigation in 2020, Boeing blamed both crashes on a 
failure in the planes’ flight control system, which caused the plane's to 
turn sharply downwards while in the air.  

737 MAX jets were once again cleared to fly in November 2021, after two 
years of being grounded, with Boeing at the time branding the planes safe 
for passengers

Boeing had previously agreed to a $200million penalty from the Securities 
and Exchange Commission to settle charges that it 'negligently violated 
the antifraud provisions,' of US securities law.

The agency argued that just one month after the first crash, the company 
'selectively highlighted certain facts, implying pilot error and poor 
aircraft maintenance' was what led to the crashes, instead of a technical 
issue.

That release failed to disclose that the company knew a key flight 
handling system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System posed 
safety issues and was never redesigned, the SEC argued.

Then, after the second crash, the agency said, Boeing and Muilenburg 
assured the public that there was 'no surprise or gap' in the federal 
certification of the MAX despite being aware of contrary information.

'In times of crisis and tragedy, it is especially important that public 
companies and executives provide full, fair, and truthful disclosures to 
the markets,' said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a press release.

'The Boeing Company and its former CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, failed in this 
most basic obligation. They misled investors by providing assurances about 
the safety of the 737 MAX, despite knowing about serious safety concerns.'

The SEC said both Boeing and Muilenburg, in agreeing to pay the penalties, 
did not admit or deny the agency's findings.

Boeing said the agreement 'fully resolves' the SEC's inquiry and is part 
of the company's 'broader effort to responsibly resolve outstanding legal 
matters related to the 737 MAX accidents in a manner that serves the best 
interests of our shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders,' a 
company spokesman said.

'We will never forget those lost on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian 
Airlines Flight 302, and we have made broad and deep changes across our 
company in response to those accidents.'

Meanwhile, relatives in the remaining civil lawsuits have enlisted their 
own expert witnesses to help their case, and address questions regarding 
their family member's final moments.

One of those experts, aerospace physiologist Troy Faaborg, wrote in a 
court filing the victims very likely experienced issues such as panic, 
nausea and vomiting, heart problems during the six-minute nosedive, giving 
credence to their relatives argument.

Vickie Norton, a commercial airline pilot hired as a witness by the 
plaintiffs, also wrote: 'It wasn’t long before the progressive loss of 
control and ultimate dive to the ground would have been not only 
distressing but terror-inducing to all passengers onboard.'

Feds will now decide whether Boeing defied the terms of the deal reached 
this past October. 


-- 
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that 
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem.  It has none.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.  
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden 
fiasco, President Trump.  

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the 
The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood 
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed 
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.