A former Boeing supplier quality auditor who made serious allegations against the airline has died after a short illness. Forty-five-year-old Joshua Dean, who drew attention to the manufacturing defects of the 737 MAX aircraft, thus became the second Boeing whistleblower to die this year, The Guardian reported.
Washington
11:11 p.m May 3, 2024
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In January of this year, part of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX plane broke off in mid-air, and the Federal Aviation Administration responded by banning the company from increasing production of the planes | Photo: Peter Cziborra | Source: Reuters
A former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems has filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration alleging “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management on the 737 production line.”
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Dean was fired by the company last year and an auditor filed a complaint with the Department of Labor alleging retaliation for raising safety concerns.
According to the Seattle Times, Dean was hospitalized after having trouble breathing. He developed pneumonia and a serious infection and died two weeks later.
Dean was represented by the same law firm that represented another Boeing whistleblower, John Barnett. Barnett, 62, was found dead in March from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He also drew attention to serious defects in production. He claimed management ignored his complaints and moved him to another part of the plant.
Last month, another Boeing whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, told the US Senate Homeland Security Committee that there was “no culture of safety” at Boeing.
Salehpour claimed that employees who raised the issue were “ignored, threatened, sidelined and worse.” He added that he feared “physical violence” after going public with his concerns.
Salehpour said he believed the American planemaker should retire all Dreamliner 787s. They could fail prematurely because of gaps between fuselage sections, he said.
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The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Salehpour’s claim that the plane maker sped up production of the 787 while ignoring safety and quality issues. For example, according to him, parts of the fuselage of the plane were not assembled correctly. According to Salehpour, there are also problems with the 777 model.
In January of this year, part of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX aircraft broke off in the air, causing Federal Aviation Administrationresponded by prohibiting the company from increasing production of these aircraft. The FAA also said it found numerous non-compliance issues in Boeing’s supply chain.
In 2018 and 2019, a total of 346 people died in two serious accidents involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The planes were then taken out of service for more than a year and a half due to the decision of the authorities all over the world.
Reuters reported last month that the Justice Department is now considering whether Boeing violated an agreement that shielded it from criminal prosecution over fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
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