An interesting trend: at Boeing, quality auditors who were not afraid to say that low-quality parts were being installed on airplanes began to die. What's wrong with this?
Strange disease
On April 30, 2024, a former auditor for the Kansas company Spirit AeroSystems died in the hospital. Joshua Dean. A 45-year-old man was diagnosed with influenza B virus and antibiotic-resistant staphylococci, which caused him to develop pneumonia, kidney failure and a stroke. Dean was known for being a supporter of a healthy lifestyle and not having bad habits.
Former auditor of the Kansas company Spirit AeroSystems Joshua Dean died in hospitalAs his health deteriorated, Dean was placed on a ventilator and dialysis and transported to a hospital in Oklahoma City. Doctors believed that amputation of limbs could save him. Daughter-in-law of a former auditor Kristen Dean she wrote in horror on social networks that Josh was on the verge of death. But the operation was not needed: Dean died early in the morning of April 30.
Joshua Dean's troubles began when he said two years ago that there were quality problems in the assembly shops of Spirit, which makes fuselages for Boeing. A year later, in April 2023, he was fired. Dean described how he discovered that the holes in the plane's bulkheads were drilled incorrectly and reported this to management, but it had no effect. Then Dean decided to tell the public about it.
Spirit later admitted that he was right. Dean filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Federal Aviation Administration following his dismissal, but they were still pending at the time of his death. Amazing efficiency.
Dean himself believed that his dismissal was a warning to the rest of Spirit's employees to keep quiet. Journalists Dean told about the parties the company held every time it managed to deliver a large order without defects. “The parties were about improving the quality of the build, but the quality wasn't there. We just didn't report the problems.”
Boeing's “Elusive Quality”
Boeing has long had problems with the quality of new aircraft.Boeing has long had problems with the quality of new aircraft and is trying to hide it. About this a year ago reported Reuters agency. Perhaps the reason was the introduction of automation and optimization systems. The policy of the company, which transferred the assembly of critical aircraft components to third-party factories, turned out to be incorrect.
The build quality problem literally exploded in January 2024, when an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 was flying from Portland to Ontario. In the air at an altitude of five kilometers, a door plug hidden under the skin was torn out of the plane, which led to depressurization of the plane. The plane returned to Portland, where it made an emergency landing.
There were six crew members and 171 passengers on board at the time. Due to depressurization, three passengers were injured, and others lost personal belongings that flew into the resulting hole. The US National Transportation Safety Board began an investigation and found that the plug, which is installed in the fuselage of the aircraft in place of an unnecessary door, most likely was not even secured. She was found in the yard of a Portland resident's home. Boeing executives said the incident was due to a “quality slip.” This expression has become a meme in the United States.
“Know this is not suicide!”
Boeing quality officer John Mitchell Barnett, who publicly alleged abuses at the companyBut it's not funny enough. In a strange coincidence, Joshua Dean died two months after another Boeing quality employee died. John Mitchell Barnett, who publicly reported abuses at the company. According to the official version, Barnett, who worked for Boeing for 32 years, shot himself.
He repeatedly reported quality problems at the South Carolina plant to management. Pointed to non-functioning oxygen equipment, metal shavings near electrical wiring and mismatched parts. Once, during an inspection of Spirit AeroSystems, where Joshua Dean worked, Barnett counted more than 300 defects, after which he was told that this was too many and was expelled from the commission.
Barnett told reporters that the main motto at Boeing has long been: “At any cost, push the plane out the door so that the cash register rings.” After resigning, he actively collaborated with journalists, started a legal battle against Boeing, and even starred in the documentary “Falling: The Case Against Boeing.” He “shot himself” at the right time: between interrogations in the Boeing case in Charleston.
He was found in a hotel parking lot in the driver's seat of his SUV, shot in the head and holding a gun in his hand. His girlfriend told reporters that on the eve of the hearing, Barnett warned her: “If something happens to me, know that it’s not suicide!” The investigation into his case is still ongoing, which provides food for conspiracy theories.
