A former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems died on Tuesday after contracting a sudden, rapid infection.
Joshua Dean died just months after John Barnett, another Boing whistleblower, under mysterious circumstances.
Dean was prominent in raising alarms over alleged safety issues within Boeing’s 737 MAX production line.
The Seattle Times reported that Dean succumbed to a fast-spreading infection that led to multiple complications.
Dean, 45, was a resident of Wichita, Kansas—where Spirit AeroSystems is based.
He had no previous health problems.
The news outlet reported:
[His aunt Carol] Parsons said Dean became ill and went to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing just over two weeks ago. He was intubated and developed pneumonia and then a serious bacterial infection, MRSA.
His condition deteriorated rapidly, and he was airlifted from Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City, Parsons said. There he was put on an ECMO machine, which circulates and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, taking over heart and lung function when a patient’s organs don’t work on their own.
His mother posted a message Friday on Facebook relating all those details and saying that Dean was “fighting for his life.”
He was heavily sedated and put on dialysis. A CT scan indicated he had suffered a stroke, his mom’s post said.
By the end, doctors were considering amputating both hands and both feet. “It was brutal what he went through,” Parsons said. “Heartbreaking.”
Spirit AeroSystems spokesperson Joe Buccino expressed condolences following Dean’s death:
“Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.”
Dean alleged that there was serious misconduct within Spirit’s leadership on the manufacturing of the 737 MAX.
After he was terminated from his job in April 2023, Dean filed a Department of Labor complaint, alleging that his dismissal was due to his blowing the whistle.
Speaking with NPR, Dead said his dismissal was a tactic to intimidate others considering whistleblowing.
“If you are too loud, we will silence you,” he said.
However, what is more concerning is that Dean died soon after John Barnett, another Boeing whistleblower who died under circumstances after coming out against the airline company.
Barnett’s death is still under active police investigation.
John Barnett reportedly told a close friend before his death that if anything happened to him, it would not be suicide.
Barnett’s lawyers raised doubts he took his own life.
Barnett was found dead just days after testifying against the airplane company.
The Daily Mail reported:
“Barnett’s death came during a break in depositions in a whistleblower retaliation suit, where he alleged under-pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the assembly line.”
Barnett was reportedly found with a ‘silver handgun’ with his hand and his finger on the trigger, along with a suicide note.
However, the contents of the note have not been released.
Barnett’s lawyers have since called for a thorough probe because they do not believe he committed suicide.
“John was in the midst of a deposition in his whistleblower case, which finally was nearing the end,” Barnett’s lawyers said.
“He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on.”
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