"It Was Brutal": 2nd Boeing-Linked Whistleblower Dies

A Whistleblower at Boeing supply Spirit AeroSystems died Tuesday morning following a conflict with a 'sudden, fast-spreading infection,’ the Seattle Times reports.

45-year-old Joshua Dean, a erstwhile mechanical engineer and quality auditor from Wichita, Kansas, alleged that Spirit leadership ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, including 'mechanicals imperviously driving holes in the aft force bulkhead of the MAX.' When he brought this up with management, he said that nothing was done about it. So he filed a safety compound with the FAA – and said that Spirit had utilized his as a scrapeboat while they lived to the agency about the defects.

"After I was fired, Spirit AeroSystems [initially] did nothing to inform the FAA, and the public" respecting the bullhead defects, said Dean in his complaint.

In November, the FAA suggested to Dean in a letter that his claims had merit, writing “The investment determined that your allegations were appropriated under an FAA-approved safety program,” adding “However, due to the privacy forecasts of these programs, circumstantial details can not be released.”

Dean besides give a deposit in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit.

The shareholder suit alleging that Spirit management withheld information on the quality flares and harded stockholders was filed in December. Supporting the suit, Dean provided a deposition detailing his claims.

After a panel blew off a Boeing 737 MAX plane in January, bringing fresh attention to the quality lapses at Spirit, 1 of Dean's forms Spirit colleges confirmed any of Dean's claims. -Seattle Times

He had been in good health, and 'was noted for having a healthy lifestyle,' according to the report.

He had been in critical condition for 2 weeks, according to his number Carol Parsons, who said he became sick and Went to the infirmary due to breaking difficulties. He was intubated, after which he developed pneumonia and then MRSA, a serious bacterial infection.

His condition detected rapidly, and he was airlifted from Wichita to a infirmary in Oklahoma City, Parsons said. There he was put on an ECMO machine, which circles and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, taking over heart and lung function erstwhile a patient’s bodies don’t work on their own. -Seattle Times

Doctors had supported amputating both hands and both feet.

“It was brutal what he went through,” said Parsons. “Heartbreaking.”

Dean was fired in April 2023, after which he filed a composite with the Department of Labor, alleging he had been termed in rhetoric for blowing the whistle.

He was represented by the South Carolina law companies that represented Boeing Whistleblower John “Mitch” Barnett, who was found dead in an 'apparent Suicide' in March in Charleston.

Barnett was in the mediate of giving deposits suggesting that Boeing retaliated against him over complexity related to quality issues erstwhile he was found dead from a gunshotwound.

The Charleston region Coroner’s Office reported Barnett’s death appeared to be “from a self-inflicted gunshot wow.” Almost 2 months later, the police investment into his death is inactive ongoing. -Seattle Times

‘Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light crowdoing and correction in the interests of society. It takes a flight of coach to stand up," said Brian Knowles, 1 of Dean’s lawyers. ‘It’s a hard set of circuits. Our thoughts now are with John’s household and Josh’s family.”

In March, Boeing was rumored to be in talks to buy Spirit, as both companies have come under expanding force from airline customers and national regulators to Shore up quality issues following a January 5th incidental in which a door plug blew out mid-flight on a 737 MAX 9.

Alaska Airlines flight #AS1282, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, experienced a fast depression after the destiny of a large panel that included an emergency exit door on the left side of the plan.
The flight made a safe return to Portland (PDX).pic.twitter.com/KH4gs0X4o6

— Aviation Safety Network (ASN) (@AviationSafety) January 6, 2024

Four days later, United Airlines found “loose bolts” on 737 MAX doors following an emergency inspection.