The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Second Boeing whistleblower dies ‘suddenly’ in Oklahoma
Verity Bowman
A SECOND Boeing whistleblower has died just two months after his colleague was found dead with gunshot wounds in a car park.
Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, warned of manufacturing defects in the planemaker’s 737 Max.
He filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alleging “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line” at Spirit.
The 45-year-old died on Tuesday after developing pneumonia following a “fast-moving” infection of influenza B and MRSA.
According to reports, Mr Dean followed an active lifestyle and was believed to be in good health until his “sudden” death in Oklahoma.
Mr Dean was represented by the same legal team that represented the fellow Boeing whistleblower John Barnett until his death in March.
Mr Barnett, 62, was found dead in a vehicle in a hotel car park, having suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He had been due to testify in a lawsuit against his former employer.
Boeing has been plagued by a series of incidents involving its planes, with two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that led to a total of 346 people being killed.
In January, a door flew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 mid-flight, leading to an investigation by the FAA.
Soon afterwards, four people came forward, including the two dead whistleblowers, alleging that Boeing “cut corners” during manufacturing.
Mr Dean, who was fired by Spirit last year, lodged a complaint claiming that his termination came in response to him flagging safety concerns.
He told that he had been fired for pointing out that holes in jet fuselages had been drilled wrong.
“It is known at Spirit that if you make too much noise and cause too much trouble, you will be moved,” Mr Dean said.
“It doesn’t mean you completely disregard stuff, but they don’t want you to find everything and write it up.”
After spending almost three decades at Boeing, the other deceased whistleblower, Mr Barnett told
in 2019 that he had discovered “clusters or metal slivers” hanging over the wiring of flight controls.
He said that they could have caused “catastrophic” damage if they had penetrated wires.
Mr Barnett claimed that he was moved to another part of the plant after management ignored his concerns.
Amid the allegations and incidents involving Boeing planes, Dave Calhoun, the company’s chief executive, announced in March that he would step down at the end of the year.
In the first quarter of this year, Boeing reported a $355million (£281.4million) net loss.
Joshua Dean, who warned of manufacturing defects in 737 Max, developed pneumonia after infection