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Second suspicious death in a few months among whistleblowers linked to the aircraft malfunction scandal Boeing . Mechanical engineer Josh Dean, former quality control officer at Spirit AeroSystem, Boeing’s supplier of some 737 Max components, died last Tuesday, April 30, after struggling for two weeks with a strange and sudden infection. The news was released a few hours ago. Dean, of Wichita, Kansas, where the Spirit company is based, was one of the first whistleblowers to allege that his company’s management had turned a blind eye to manufacturing defects in the Boeing 737 Max . Spirit’s “mole” engineer was 45 years old, in good health and known for having a healthy lifestyle, The Seattle Times reports.
Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino expressed the company’s condolences in a statement: «Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family. This sudden loss is incredible news for us and for his loved ones.” Dean had testified in a court case against Spirit shareholders and had also filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration alleging “gross conduct by quality managers involved in the 737 production line” of his company Spirit.
Fired after revelations
Spirit, after the lawsuit and appeal to the FAA, fired Dean in April 2023. He in response filed a complaint with the Department of Labor claiming that the firing was in retaliation by his company for raising the case with the federal agency that oversees the aviation safety. Carol Parsons, Dean’s aunt, said the man went to hospital two weeks ago because he was having trouble breathing just over two weeks ago. He was immediately intubated and developed pneumonia and then a serious bacterial infection. His condition worsened rapidly and he was flown from Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City. There, very seriously ill, he was placed in the machine that circulates and oxygenates patients’ blood outside the body, taking control of heart and lung function when the organs no longer function on their own, sedated and subjected to dialysis. His mother posted a message on Facebook telling all the details and saying Dean was “fighting for his life.” A CT scan revealed that he had also had a stroke. In the last hours before his death, doctors had even considered the possibility of amputating both hands and both feet to try to save his life. «What he went through was brutal. Heartbreaking,” the relatives said.
The second suspicious death
Josh Dean in the case against Boeing and Spirit was assisted by a South Carolina law firm that had also followed the other Boeing whistleblower, John “Mitch” Barnett, who also died in suspicious conditions: Barnett was found dead in March an apparent suicide. The episode occurred in the days in which he was giving depositions against Boeing for the ostracism unleashed, according to him, by the company against him following his reports which highlighted the quality defects found in the Boeing 787 production lines at the Charleston plant , South Carolina. City where the man lived and where he was found dead from a gunshot wound. The Charleston County Coroner’s Office reported that Barnett’s death appeared to be due “to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” However almost two months later, the police investigation into his death is still ongoing.
Brian Knowles, one of Dean’s lawyers, said he did not want to speculate on the close timing and circumstances of the two deaths. «Whistleblowers are valuable because they bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in companies. It takes a lot of courage to stand up against these giants,” Knowles said. “Our thoughts are now with John’s family and Josh’s family.”
