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Barnett had worked at Boeing for 32 years before leaving the
company in 2017, according to the BBC, which previously reported
on his efforts to raise issues about the company's production
issues.
The 62-year-old died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the
Charleston County coroner's office in South Carolina confirmed
on Tuesday. The Charleston City police are investigating, the
coroner's office said, without giving any other details.
Barnett was in the middle of a deposition in an ongoing
whistleblower retaliation case against Boeing, according to a
statement from his attorneys, Robert Turkewitz and Brian
Knowles.
"He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to
putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on. We
didn't see any indication he would take his own life. No one can
believe it," they said.
Barnett was a quality manager at Boeing. He had "exposed very
serious safety problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and was
retaliated against and subjected to a hostile work environment,"
his attorneys said.
Boeing, in a statement, said: “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s
passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Barnett had spoken to media outlets following the Jan. 5
incident on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane, when a panel blew out
while the flight was in mid-air, exposing passengers to the
outside air that required an emergency landing.
Boeing has since had to reckon with a full-blown crisis around
its safety and quality standards. Its production has been curbed
by U.S. regulators, leading to delivery delays across the
aerospace industry.
(Reporting By Reuters staff, Editing by Nick Zieminski and
Franklin Paul)
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