A man actively involved in a whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing was found dead inside his vehicle from “self-inflicted” injuries.
John Barnett, who worked for Boeing for 32 years, came forward with concerns regarding oxygen masks and other issues.
According to Barnett, 25% of masks would not work in an emergency.
Barnett told the BBC that workers had been “deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the production line,” the outlet reported.
Amid an effort to get new aircraft built, the assembly process was rushed. “He said in some cases, sub-standard parts had even been removed from scrap bins and fitted to planes that were being built to prevent delays on the production line,” BBC noted.
Despite notifying managers of the issue, nothing was done to change the process. Boeing instead denied Barnett’s concerns.
The news of Barnett’s death comes as a United Airlines Boeing 737 went off the runway and got stuck in the grass at the George W. Bush Airport in Houston, Texas. Similarly, a plane departing from San Francisco International Airport lost a tire then fell to the ground and damaged vehicles in a parking lot.
Earlier this year, the door of an Alaska Airlines flight fell off. “This incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again,” the FAA said in a statement. “FAA formally notified Boeing that it is conducting an investigation to determine if Boeing failed to ensure completed produces conformed to its approved design and were in a condition for safe operation in compliance with FAA regulations.”
“This investigation is a result of an incident on a Boeing Model 737-9 MAX where it lost a ‘plug’ type passenger door and additional discrepancies,” the statement added. “Boeing’s manufacturing practices need to comply with the high safety standards they’re legally accountable to meet.”
