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Company logo of the aircraft manufacturer Boeing
Photo: Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich / EPA
His body was found in a car in a hotel parking lot in the US state of South Carolina: A former Boeing manager who had raised safety concerns about the aircraft manufacturer is dead. The 62-year-old apparently killed himself.
John Barnett was employed by Boeing for 32 years, including in quality control at a Boeing factory in South Carolina.
He left the company in 2017.
In 2019, he made headlines when he publicly made serious allegations against the aircraft manufacturer: Production lines had been converted in a hurry for mass production of the Dreamliner - at the expense of quality and safety.
During tests, the emergency supply of oxygen failed in every fourth case.
Boeing denied the claim.
Barnett filed a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. government.
According to his lawyer, he testified in court all day on the Thursday and Friday before his death.
The hearing was scheduled to continue on Monday.
After Barnett failed to show up for court and didn't answer his cell phone, his attorney called the hotel where he was staying in Charleston for the duration of the court hearings.
Employees then found his body in his car.
Barnett's brother Rodney told the AP news agency that John suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety - triggered by the "hostile work environment at Boeing, which we believe led to his death."
According to John Barnett, Boeing "cultivated a culture of secrecy" and "placed profit over safety," said Rodney Barnett.
Boeing only made a brief statement about John Barnett's death: "We are saddened by the death of Mr. Barnett and our thoughts are with his family and friends."