Author: Ondrej Kriz
Publication date: 20.08.2024
Air Traffic is statistically the safest mode of transportation in the world. Since the first commercial jetliner took off in 1957, innovation and modern technologies have reduced the number of air travel fatalities per passenger to 1 per 13.7 million between 2018 - 2022, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2022 alone, approximately 820 million people traveled by air in the EU, almost double the number of European residents. The ultimate pioneer of Air Traffic is, undoubtedly, the American Aeronautical Engineering Corporation, Boeing. From assisting the United States in winning both world wars to raising civil transportation into the skies and, therefore, forever changing traveling in space, Boeing deservedly assumes a place in technology history books. However, in recent years, the company suffered massive reputational damage that put Boeing's entire credibility into question. And the circumstances around these events are so serious, that we might be witnessing the Beginning of an End of the prestige of one of America's most eminent corporations.
Tragic Result of Boeing's Negligence:
On October 29th, 2018, a Boeing 737 Max, carrying 189 people, including the crew members, crashed into the Java Sea, leaving no survivors. Several months later, on March 10th, 2019, the same type of aircraft, crashed in central Ethiopia, killing all 157 people on board.
Given that both tragic incidents involved two jetliners of Boeing 737 Max, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) decided to halt the operation of all 387 airplanes of this prototype on US soil and launch an investigation into its production procedures and both accidents. According to a CNN article, a plaintiff's attorney Robert Clifford, who was working on the lawsuit against Boeing in the aftermath of the crashes, claims that after the first plane crash, the company knew about the design flaws of the aircraft but did not intervene. As a consequence, Boeing was ordered by the Department of Justice to pay 2,5 billion dollars for deceiving the FAA to gain approval for the distribution of the Boeing Max aircraft, known to have a defective and insufficient safety system. Furthermore, the corporation was found liable to pay the compensatory damages to the families of the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash. On November 17th, 2020, US Congress passed the Aircraft Certification Reform and Accountability Act, addressing "certain safety standards relating to the aircraft certification process" and broadening the FAA's authority in the regulation strategy.
Boeing 737 Max in the Headlines Years After the Deadly Crashes:
The year 2024 has been another challenge for the already-discredited aerospace company. On January 5th, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off in the late afternoon hours from Portland, Oregon, and headed to Ontario in California. The aircraft, Boeing 737 Max 9, was approximately 16,000 feet (4,8 km) above the ground when the door plug of the plane, used to seal unused exits on commercial airlines (according to the Military Aerospace), flew out mid-flight. The shocking incident, which miraculously did not claim any casualties, caused the airplane to resort to an emergency landing at the Portland Airport, just 35 minutes after the takeoff, as reported by BBC. On January 6th, the FAA ordered the grounding of all 737-9 Max aircraft in the United States. The same decision was made after the second deadly crash of this type of Boeing in 2019. Several weeks later, Alaska Airlines gained approval from the FAA to launch its inspection on the 737 Max aircraft, its production quality, and control systems. Eventually, on January 26th, the first 737-9 Max jetliner returned to the skies. Still, the controls over the production of Boeing airplanes and further investigation of the causes of the incident, with the assistance of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), continue till this day, according to the last statement on the Alaska Airlines official website. During the flight that Alaska Airlines described as, "harrowing for our guests and crew", nobody lost their lives as the seats in the proximity of the flawed door plug that fell out were vacant. However, one person was immediately after the landing taken to the hospital, and several others were medically treated for minor injuries. The flight was, nevertheless, a traumatic experience for everybody on board, which is a reason why 37 passengers and 14 of their family members decided to sue Alaska Airlines, Boeing, and supplier Spirit AeroSystems, with their plaintiffs demanding punitive, compensatory, and general damages, according to BBC. Despite Alaska Airlines fully refunding the flight tickets to all passengers and additionally paying a $1,500 cash payment “as an immediate gesture of care,” (as reported by The Seattle Times), the court proceedings are still underway. In March, ABC7 Los Angeles stated that three passengers sued Alaska Airlines and Boeing for $1 billion.
The Suspicious Deaths of Those Who Knew about Boeing whistleblowers case:
John Barnett:
As of August 2024, two names stand in the center of the most recent Boeing debacle which further damaged the company's reputation and raised some uncomfortable questions. John Barnett had been working for Boeing for 32 years, holding the post of quality control manager in Washington state and South Carolina. He retired in 2017, while simultaneously filing a complaint against Boeing to the US Labour Department and FAA, accusing the firm of neglecting the safety measures to speed up production and gain profits. According to a BBC article, in his lawsuit and testimonies, he claimed that on average one in four oxygen masks on the boards of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner might be non-functional. Aircraft are often partially constructed with substandard parts to meet the production deadlines and avoid further costs. In another allegation, Barnett stated that disorganization within the South Carolina Boeing plant allowed for deficient components to go astray and mix up in the production along with the high-quality parts. This was officially confirmed by the FAA in the same year (2017), proving that it could not locate at least 53 second-rate production components of the 787 Dreamliner. What followed was a lengthy and unpleasant legal battle with Boeing, which denied most of Barnett's claims. All this came to a tragic conclusion when on March 9th, 2024, Barnett was found shot dead in his car, in the parking lot of his hotel in Charleston, South Carolina. The medical examiner proclaimed the cause of death a self-inflicted shot wound. During the week before his death, John Barnett underwent a formal deposition with Boeing's lawyers and his private counsel. He was scheduled to testify again on March 9th, but was absent, and subsequently found dead in his car.
'If anything happens, it's not suicide. I like to breathe too much; I've got so much stuff I need to do and things that I haven't done that I want to do.'" These were the words Barnett said to his close friend Jennifer Baldwin prior to his death, who claimed she did not believe Barnett committed suicide, according to Newsweek. Boeing released a statement following the alleged suicide, saying, "We are saddened by Mr. Barnett's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends." As of today, no evidence of external influence on John Barnett's death was found, and according to the medical examiner, the now well-known "whistleblower" was experiencing a distressful and mentally demanding period caused by his legal battles with his former employer.
Joshua Dean:
On April 30th, 2024, a former quality auditor at Spirit Aerosystem, Boeing's longtime supplier, Joshua Dean, died abruptly due to MRSA bacterial infection. He was 45 years old. Two years earlier, in October 2022, after notifying the management of Spirit and getting no response, Dean filed a complaint to the FAA about "mechanics improperly drilling holes in the aft pressure bulkhead of the MAX", a misstep that could have serious consequences. In April 2023, Spirit decided to fire Dean, alleging that he overlooked a flaw regarding the fittings of the tail fins on certain 737 Max airplanes, which caused a delivery pause at Boeing’s Renton factory in Washington state, as reported by Business Today. The same article says that, in November 2023, Dean filed a complaint with the Department of Labour, accusing the company of wrongful termination and misconduct of senior-level Spirit AeroSystems Quality Managers. Dean then went on to participate in the lawsuit raised by Spirit's shareholders accusing the company of deceiving them about its inner operations, resulting in sharp declines in Spirit's stock value. He gave a testimony outlining the failures of the company's leadership and defective production procedures. In early April 2024, Dean had respiratory problems and was shortly after taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with MRSA and pneumonia. According to the Economic Times, Dean also suffered a stroke during his time in the hospital. He passed away on April 30th, despite previously living a healthy and active life, as disclosed by his mother for NPR (National Public Radio). His death came not even two months after the demise of the other Boeing "whistleblower" in March this year.
Whether or not Boeing somehow assisted these passings remains an unanswered question. So far, no evidence of assassination has been presented, although the circumstances around the deaths of John Barnett and Joshua Dean are according to many, suspicious. While Boeing's negligence and hunger for profits may have not resulted in both "whistleblower" deaths, it certainly did in the case of 346 passengers who died on board Boeing 737 Max when the first jetliner came down in 2018, and then another one a year later.
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Reference List
Joshua Dean: Who was Josh Dean, the whistleblower who died mysteriously? What's his connection with Boeing? Here's all - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
Boeing whistleblower John Barnett found dead in US (bbc.com)
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 - Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore
Study: Flying keeps getting safer | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Boeing's turbulent descent: The company’s scandals & mishaps explained - TheStreet
Another Boeing whistleblower is dead—a healthy 45-year-old with a sudden, severe infection | Fortune
H.R.8408 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Aircraft Certification Reform and Accountability Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
Boeing accepts liability for Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crash | CNN Business
Information about Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 and our 737-9 MAX fleet - Alaska Airlines News
Alaska Airlines blowout: Passenger describes being on Flight 1282 (bbc.com)
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