• TheUnicornsForever@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      62
      ·
      8 months ago

      The whistleblower behind the recent Boeing safety scandals, that has casually killed himself on a day he was supposed to give a deposition or something

      • ISometimesAdmin@the.coolest.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        34
        ·
        8 months ago

        He ALREADY testified: he was found dead AFTER.

        Barnett’s body was found in a vehicle in a Holiday Inn parking lot in Charleston on Saturday, police said. One day earlier, he testified in a deposition about the string of problems he says he identified at Boeing’s plant where he once helped inspect the 787 Dreamliner aircraft before delivery to customers.

        https://www.npr.org/2024/03/12/1238033573/boeing-whistleblower-john-barnett-dead

        • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          73
          ·
          8 months ago

          Multi-day testimony, he only did one day. He was scheduled to testify again on Saturday. They went looking for him when he didn’t show up and that’s when they found the body.

          So, to be more accurate, he was IN THE MIDDLE of testifying; he was found dead DURING the time he was supposed to be testifying.

          • Zron@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            13
            ·
            8 months ago

            A part of me says that it’s entirely reasonable that a guy who worked for Boeing and likely signed off on thousands of defective parts would feel a brutal surge of guilt after giving testimony about it. I can’t imagine the guilt if I thought I had potentially hundreds of people’s blood on my hands. We don’t know if he was or felt he was responsible for the deaths caused by MCAS or other tragedies. Maybe saying it out loud brought all of it back and he felt like he needed an out.

            Another, louder part of me, says that Boeing either pressured him into committing suicide, or shot him themselves to stop him from revealing too much damaging information.

            Another part of me remembers that Malaysia Flight 370 was a Boeing plane that disappeared by essentially cutting all communications and flying back towards the mainland. Knowing now what we do about how Boeing has been run, I think the most likely thing is that some serious technical issues happened to that plane, the pilots tried to return back but were unable to control the plane long enough, probably due to being unconscious or dead, and it eventually crashed into the ocean.

            • Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              11
              ·
              8 months ago

              Even if it wasn’t Boeing itself that had him killed, who’s to say it wasn’t one of their investors? I try not to fall into conspiracy theory rabbit-holes, but it’s very convenient.

              • Starkstruck@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                8 months ago

                Same, like it just seems so clear he was murked. And even if he was feeling guilty, wouldn’t he at least want to right his wrongs by finishing his testimony first?