Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems and one of the first whistleblowers to allege Spirit leadership had ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, died on April 30 from a sudden, fast-spreading infection, according to The Seattle Times. This marks the second Boeing whistleblower death in as many months, leading to speculation as to whether there is an ominous connection. In March, John “Mitch” Barnett, a 62-year-old whistleblower who filed a complaint against Boeing with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), was found dead from what the coroner said was a “self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Barnett’s untimely death came as he was in the middle of providing depositions on the company’s safety issues. He has provided two full days of depositions on March 7 - 8 and was scheduled to continue the deposition with lawyers on Saturday March 9. After Barnett failed to appear, his attorneys called his hotel requesting a welfare check. He was found dead in his truck at the hotel. Dean, 45, was known to have had a healthy lifestyle and had been in good health. Around two weeks ago, he became sick and went to the hospital after experiencing trouble breathing, his aunt, Carol Parsons, told the Times. Medical staff intubated him shortly before he developed pneumonia, which was followed by a MRSA infection, a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to some antibiotics. His condition quickly worsened, and he was airlifted from Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City, Parsons said. He was placed on a machine that takes over heart and lung function when a patient’s organs fail, was heavily sedated, and put on dialysis. A CT scan showed that he had suffered a stroke. Dean filed a complaint against Spirit AeroSystems with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alleging “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line.” He held a degree in mechanical engineering, began working for Spirit in 2019, and was one of the first people to draw attention to potentially dangerous defects with 737 Max jets at Spirit AeroSystems, a major Boeing supplier. Dean was fired in April 2023 in retaliation for flagging improperly drilled holes in fuselages, he told NPR. He said many of his colleagues knew something wasn’t right, and that management discouraged reporting of problems on the line. "We're having a pizza party because we're lowering defects," Dean, who was a former quality auditor at the factory, told NPR. "But we're not lowering defects. We just ain't reporting them, you know what I mean?" Dean also provided statements in a shareholder lawsuit against Spirit AeroSystems that alleges an “excessive” number of defects at the factory. Earlier this year, the FAA launched an investigation into Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems. After a six-week audit, federal officials found “multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.” A review by The New York Times discovered, “The plane maker passed 56 of the audits and failed 33 of them, with a total of 97 instances of alleged noncompliance.” One of Dean’s lawyers, Brian Knowles, says he does not want to speculate on the close timing and circumstances of the two whistleblower deaths. “Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up,” Knowles said. “It’s a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with John’s family and Josh’s family.”A Boeing employee who raised concerns with the federal government about the company’s safety record has died under circumstances many are considering mysterious.
