Boeing whistleblower John Barnett’s warning earlier than he was discovered lifeless

An in depth good friend of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett mentioned he predicted he would possibly find yourself lifeless earlier than he was discovered shot final week. 

The 62-year-old was present in his truck in a lodge car parking zone in South Carolina, – seven years after he retired following a 32-year profession with Boeing.

Barnett’s demise got here throughout a whistleblower go well with, the place he alleged under-pressure staff have been intentionally becoming sub-standard components to plane on the meeting line. 

Close household good friend Jennifer has now informed WPDE that Barnett had warned her of such a factor occurring to him. 

She informed the outlet: ‘I mentioned, ‘Aren’t you scared?’ And he mentioned, ‘No, I ain’t scared, but when something occurs to me, it isn’t suicide.’

Jennifer continued: ‘I do know that he didn’t commit suicide. There’s no manner. He cherished life an excessive amount of. 

‘He cherished his household an excessive amount of. He cherished his brothers an excessive amount of to place them by way of what they are going by way of proper now.’

Jennifer believes somebody ‘did not like what he needed to say’ and wished to ‘shut him up’.

She added: ‘That’s why they made it appear to be a suicide. I do not care what they are saying, I do know that Mitch did not try this.’ 

Barnett had alleged that second-rate components have been actually faraway from scrap bins, earlier than being fitted to planes that have been being constructed to stop delays.

A 2017 overview by the FAA upheld a few of his issues, requiring Boeing to take motion.

He had simply given a deposition to Boeing’s legal professionals for the case this previous week, his lawyer Brian Knowles mentioned. 

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

Boeing additionally responded to the previous employee’s demise in their very own assertion as information unfold, saying it was ‘saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing.’

The assertion didn’t tackle any points of the case, however finally added: ‘Our ideas are together with his household and mates.’

Staff on the Holiday Inn the place Barnett was discovered lifeless revealed mentioned he appeared fantastic within the night earlier than his ‘suicide’.

Barnett ate a quesadilla, drank a Coke, scrolled on his cellphone, and appeared fantastic on the night of March 8, the unnamed lodge worker informed the New York Post.

His lawyer beforehand questioned the coroner’s workplace findings that the gunshot wound was ‘self-inflicted,’ saying Barnett was in good spirits in between his depositions.

A police report obtained by DailyMail.com reveals that Barnett prolonged his keep on the Holiday Inn two days previous to his suspected suicide and had been set to take a look at the day earlier than the alarm was raised.

The report particulars {that a} good friend of Barnett’s contacted the lodge asking for a welfare verify at 10am on March 9, with workers knocking on his lodge room door with no response.

A member of workers then looked for his orange Dodge Ram within the car parking zone of the lodge, and found Barnett deceased within the driver’s seat with a ‘silver handgun’ in his proper hand.

Barnett had his ‘proper pointer finger remaining on the set off’, and suffered a ‘gunshot wound close to his proper temple, in response to the Charleston Police Department.

The report added that there was a ‘white piece of paper that intently resembled a notice’, mendacity in plain view on the passenger seat. The contents of the notice haven’t but been revealed.

The plant the place Barnett labored for many years is the place Boeing builds the 787 Dreamliner, considered one of a number of crafts from the airliner that is made headlines as of late.

On Monday, roughly 50 individuals have been handled by first responders after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying from Australia to New Zealand skilled a ‘technical occasion’ that induced ‘a powerful motion’ jolting passengers of their seats.

The firm informed airways on Friday to start out inspecting switches on pilots’ seats after a report mentioned an unintended cockpit seat motion induced the plunge.  

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 earlier than the incident over the Indian Ocean, Boeing mentioned it believed the technical failure involving the door stemmed from one thing that occurred throughout manufacturing, the place required paperwork detailed the elimination of a key half that failed have been by no means created.

Also on Friday, the corporate mentioned it’s ‘dedicated to persevering with to cooperate totally and transparently with the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation,’ which, greater than three months later, stays ongoing.

Barnett’s job for 32 years was overseeing manufacturing requirements for the agency’s planes – requirements he mentioned weren’t met throughout his 4 years on the then-new plant in Charleston from 2010 to 2014.

‘The new management did not perceive processes,’ Barnett informed Corporate Crime Reporter in an interview in 2019 of how brass allegedly reduce corners to get their then state-of-the-art 7878s out on time.

‘They introduced them in from different areas of the corporate,’ he continued, two years after retiring in 20017. 

‘The new management staff – from my director down – all of them got here from St. Louis, Missouri. They mentioned they have been all buddies there.’

‘That total staff got here down,’ he went on. ‘They have been from the army aspect. My impression was their mindset was – we’re going to do it the way in which we wish to do it. Their motto on the time was – we’re in Charleston and we will do something we would like.’

‘They began pressuring us to not doc defects, to work exterior the procedures, to permit faulty materials to be put in with out being corrected. 

‘They began bypassing procedures and never sustaining configurement management of airplanes, not sustaining management of non conforming components – they simply wished to get the planes pushed out the door and make the money register ring.

Barnett claimed he alerted superiors on the plant about his misgivings, however no motion was ever taken. Boeing denied this, in addition to his claims.

A 2017 overview by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) went on to face up a few of Barnett’s qualms, together with discovering that at the least 53 ‘non-conforming’ components – as they put it – have been misplaced, and regarded misplaced. 

The agency is now below felony investigation for the door incident on the Max aircraft this previous January