A second whistleblower who spoke out about the manufacturer ignoring production defects passed away suddenly this week just two months after a first whistleblower died by apparent suicide.
Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor for Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, died from a fast-growing mystery infection on Tuesday (U.S local time).
Dean was part of a deposition in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit and had filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration alleging “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line”, the Seattle Times reported.
His aunt, Carol Parsons told the Seattle Times that Dean checked himself into the hospital after experiencing breathing difficulties.
By 21 April he was reported to be in a ‘very critical condition’ with doctors revealing Dean had also suffered a stroke and that considerations were made to amputate his hands and feet which had turned black.
In March, John Barnett, who had worked at Boeing for over 30 years, was found dead in his car from what is suspected to have been a self-inflicted wound.
Barnett had previously told the BBC that workers often failed to follow procedures designed to track components through the factors meaning defective parts could go missing and, in some cases, sub-standard parts were removed from scrap bins and fitted to planes.
Also in March, Boeing CEO David Calhoun announced he would step down from the top job at the end of the year as probes continue into the conduct of the embattled manufacturer.
