John Barnett, a Boeing quality manager in South Carolina from 2010 to 2017, reported that production pressure encouraged workers to bypass procedures, omit defects from records, and allow mechanics to verify their own work. He said an inspection of a Spirit AeroSystems section identified about 300 defects, but a later review was limited to 50. In 2016 he alleged that a scrapped hydraulic tube was installed on an aircraft; Boeing said its investigation did not substantiate that claim. Barnett also reported missing components, metal shavings near flight-control wiring, debris left inside aircraft, and a 2017 finding that roughly 25% of sampled 787 emergency oxygen systems could fail to deliver oxygen. Boeing’s internal investigation corroborated the oxygen-system problem, while the FAA found at least 53 missing non-conforming parts and ordered remedial action in 2017, including removal of metal shavings before delivery.
Barnett alleged that Boeing demoted and transferred him after he raised safety concerns and filed an AIR 21 whistleblower complaint with OSHA in 2017. OSHA closed the case in Boeing’s favor in 2021 after a four-year investigation; Barnett’s appeal and amended complaint remained pending after his death on March 9, 2024. The Charleston County coroner and police concluded that Barnett died by suicide, finding no evidence supporting public assassination theories, while investigators linked his distress to the whistleblower litigation. A December 2021 Senate Commerce Committee report separately concluded that FAA oversight had failed to adequately address Boeing and FAA whistleblower concerns. Boeing later acknowledged that it had prioritized moving aircraft through factories over completing work correctly.
