John Barnett feared he’d be murdered for exposing Boeing flaws MYSTERY ENGULFS AIRPLANE SAFETY SQUEALER’S DEATH
TRAGIC Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was found with his brains blown out in a hotel parking lot — while preparing to deliver damning new details of dangerous safety shortcuts made by the beleaguered aircraft manufacturing giant! Barnett, 62, had already revealed damaging information about how the company put passengers in peril by cutting corners — and a close family friend says the ill-fated informant grimly predicted his new testimony would lead to his death! The friend, who requested to be identified as “Jennifer,” says Barnett served as a pallbearer at her father’s February funeral and told her, “I ain’t scared, but if anything happens to me, it’s not suicide.”
The doomed man was in the midst of a deposition with Boeing’s lawyers in a case where he claimed he was the victim of company retaliation for revealing its safety shortcomings.
Jennifer believes somebody “didn’t like” what he had to say and wanted to “shut him up.”
She adds, “They made it look like a suicide.”
Meanwhile, Barnett’s lawyers are demanding an investigation into his death, which was initially ruled to be caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on,” attorneys Robert Turkewitz and Brian Knowles say in a statement. “We didn’t see any indication he would take his own life. No one can believe it.” Barnett was a Boeing quality control officer for 32 years but lacerated the company’s reputation since his retirement in 2017. In 2019, just months after two Boeing 737 jets crashed, killing everyone aboard, he revealed workers had been pressured to use substandard parts to meet production deadlines!
He also uncovered issues with onboard oxygen supplies that showed “one in four breathing masks would not work in an emergency.”
An FAA investigation supported his claims and found the company had “unacceptable” quality control issues. Barnett’s damaging revelations, combined with a shocking incident in which
a Boeing 737 was forced to make an emergency landing after one of its emergency exit doors blew out in midflight, have contributed to the company’s stock plunging by more than 26 percent this year.
Boeing released a statement, saying “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
But Barnett’s former coworkers claim his allegations made him powerful enemies at the well-connected company.
“That man shredded Boeing’s reputation and cost the company millions,” declares a source. “It would be no surprise if he had a price on his head.”