Another Boeing safety issue reporter has died!
According to CCTV news, another whistleblower for production safety and product quality issues at Boeing in the United States, Joshua Dean, died of a sudden illness on April 30th at the age of 45.
Previously, on March 9th this year, Barnett, who had worked at Boeing for 32 years and exposed quality control issues, was found to have died of suspected suicide at the age of 62.
In recent months, multiple models of Boeing aircraft have experienced safety accidents, exposing issues with Boeing's safety culture, quality control, and other aspects. Boeing suffered a loss of $355 million in the first quarter due to a decrease in delivery volume and grounding.
Sudden emergency! Another Boeing safety issue reporter dies
According to CCTV news, after John Barnett's suspected suicide in March this year, another whistleblower for production safety and product quality issues at Boeing in the United States, Joshua Dean, died of a sudden illness on April 30th at the age of 45.
According to the Seattle Times on May 1st, Dean lives in Wichita, Kansas and has always been in good health with a healthy lifestyle. The family said that two weeks ago, Dean suddenly sought medical attention and was hospitalized due to breathing difficulties. His condition continued to worsen and he was diagnosed with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), leaving the doctor unable to recover.
Dean previously worked as a quality inspector at Boeing's airframe supplier, Airborne Systems, and was one of the earliest whistleblowers to accuse Airborne executives of ignoring defects in the manufacturing process of the 737 MAX aircraft.
Regarding the death of this former employee, Joe Buchino, spokesperson for Prestige, said, "We are with Dean's family. His sudden departure has shocked each and every one of us."
The Seattle Times reported that Dean, a mechanical engineer, began to work in Inevitable Sharp in 2019, and was laid off from the layoffs caused by the COVID-19 epidemic the next year. He returned to Inevitable Sharp in May 2021 as a quality inspector.
According to Dean, in October 2022, he discovered a serious manufacturing defect in the 737 MAX model, but when he raised this issue with management, he did not receive any response or response.
Dean said that due to his focus on the aforementioned defects, he overlooked another manufacturing defect in the same audit, which involved the accessories used for connecting the vertical tail to the fuselage. When this defect was discovered in April 2023 and led to a suspension of delivery at Boeing's Lenton factory, he was dismissed. In August of the same year, inevitably sharp admitted that there were hundreds of misaligned and repetitive drilling holes in the pressure resistant bulkheads of some 737 MAX aircraft's tail ends. This has led to another suspension of delivery at the Renton factory.
Dean later filed a complaint with the US Department of Labor and the Federal Aviation Administration, claiming that inevitably sharp had "concealed quality issues" and treated him as a "scapegoat". He was dismissed in retaliation for raising concerns related to aviation safety.
In recent months, multiple models of Boeing aircraft have experienced safety accidents, exposing issues with Boeing's safety culture, quality control, and other aspects. The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States has initiated a production audit of Boeing and Prestige.
On March 9th this year, Barnett, who had worked at Boeing for 32 years and exposed quality control issues at the company, was found to have died of suspected suicide at the age of 62. The Charleston County Coroner's Office in South Carolina said Barnett appeared to have died from a self injurious gunshot wound. This statement raises doubts. The incident occurred nearly two months ago, and the police have not yet concluded their investigation.
Barnett served as the Quality Control Manager at the North Charleston factory in South Carolina, where Boeing 787 aircraft were produced, in 2010. He retired in 2017 due to health reasons and exposed production safety issues at Boeing in 2019. He was supposed to be questioned on March 9th regarding his lawsuit against Boeing for defamation, but he did not appear in court and was later found dead in his car in the hotel parking lot where he stayed. According to the documents released by the proxy lawyer, Barnett stated during his lifetime that he was "harassed, defamed, and humiliated" due to concerns about Boeing's quality control process.
The Seattle Times reported that Barnett was provided with legal services by a law firm in South Carolina, which also provided legal representation for Dean. One of the acting lawyers, Brian Knowles, said he doesn't want to speculate on the timing and causes of the two deaths.
Boeing has been experiencing frequent accidents recently
Since the crash of a 737 MAX 7 aircraft by Alaska Airlines, Boeing has experienced numerous accidents, leading to an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration into the company.
On April 26th local time, a Boeing 767 aircraft flying from Kennedy International Airport in New York to Los Angeles on Delta Airlines was forced to return to Kennedy International Airport and make an emergency landing after the right wing emergency slide fell off after takeoff.
On March 31st, a passenger flight HB341 operated by Greater Bay Area Airlines from Osaka to Hong Kong requested partial vigilance due to suspicion of a broken windshield. The aircraft was a Boeing 737-800. The flight safely landed on the north runway of Hong Kong International Airport at 17:45, and 152 passengers and 8 crew members on board did not report any injuries or discomfort.
On March 17th, when an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 landed in Oregon, the windshield broke. Alaska Airlines stated in a statement that a small crack appeared on the inner windshield of the plane departing from Washington D.C. when it landed at Portland International Airport. There were 159 passengers and 6 crew members on board, and no one was injured. The plane safely arrived at its destination.
On March 15th, a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft found a missing panel on the outside of its fuselage after landing.
On March 11th, a Boeing 787-9 aircraft flying from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand by Latham Airlines, headquartered in Chile, experienced a "technical malfunction" during flight, causing severe shaking of the fuselage and injuring multiple people.
On March 7th, a Boeing 777-200 aircraft flying to Osaka, Japan by United Airlines fell off a tire on the left main landing gear while taking off from San Francisco, USA.
On March 4th, a United Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft flying from Houston to Fort Myers was forced to return shortly after takeoff due to engine fire.
On February 19th, a Boeing 757-200 aircraft operated by United Airlines on a flight from San Francisco to Boston made an alternate landing at Denver International Airport due to damaged wings.
On January 28th, a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 was originally scheduled to fly from Nevada to Virginia, but the plane changed course and landed in Colorado due to a broken windshield.
On January 20th, a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 aircraft was preparing to take off at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. During taxiing, a wheel on the front landing gear suddenly fell off and rolled off the runway.
On January 13th, a Boeing 737-800 passenger plane operated by All Nippon Airways from Hokkaido Shin Chitose Airport to Toyama Airport in Japan experienced cracks in the cockpit glass during its flight. The flight then returned to Shin Chitose Airport.
On January 5th, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 passenger plane of Alaska Airlines in the United States experienced an accident in the air. A door stopper on the side of the cabin fell off, and the plane immediately made an emergency landing.
Earlier, in October 2018 and March 2019, there were air crashes on flights of Lion Air Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines, resulting in a total of 346 fatalities. The crashed planes were all Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was subsequently grounded in multiple countries and regions around the world for nearly two years.
After the air crash, the US Department of Justice filed a criminal lawsuit against Boeing in 2021 and reached an agreement to extend the prosecution. This agreement expired in January of this year. Several months have passed since January, and the arrangements for the next Boeing related litigation by the US Department of Justice remain unclear, which has sparked strong dissatisfaction among the families of the victims. On April 24th local time, the families of the victims of the Boeing air crash met with officials from the US Department of Justice in Washington. The families of the victims urged the US Department of Justice to file criminal charges against Boeing as soon as possible.
Boeing lost $355 million in the first quarter
Boeing's financial report released on the 24th showed that the company incurred a loss of $355 million in the first quarter of this year, which is narrower than the $425 million loss in the same period last year.
The financial report shows that Boeing's revenue in the first quarter was $16.57 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 8%. Mainly affected by the decrease in delivery volume of 737 aircraft models and the grounding of 737 MAX 9, the company delivered 83 civilian aircraft in the quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 36%. The revenue from civilian aircraft business decreased from $6.7 billion in the same period last year to $4.65 billion.
Boeing stated in its financial report that it will reduce its production of 737 aircraft to below 38 per month in the quarter to improve its supply chain and quality management system. In addition, Boeing Civil Aircraft Group is implementing a comprehensive action plan to address feedback from the Federal Aviation Administration on the production audit of the 737 aircraft model.
Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun stated that in order to provide the company with a stronger and more stable future, Boeing will spend the necessary time strengthening its quality and safety management system.
At the end of February, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States requested Boeing to develop a comprehensive action plan within 90 days to address its "systemic quality control issues.". Calhoun announced on March 25th that he will step down at the end of 2024 and stated that he will continue to lead Boeing in completing ongoing work before leaving.
Since the beginning of this year, Boeing's stock price has continued to decline overall, with a drop of over 30% from the high point at the end of last year as of press release.
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