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A former Boeing employee who was known as a whistleblower against the aviation giant was found dead from what appeared to be a "self-inflicted" wound.
The Charleston County Coroner's Office released its findings Tuesday, March 12, three days after John Barnett, 62 was found dead in North Charleston, South Carolina, Knewz.com has learned.
According to Yahoo! Finance, Barnett's March 9 death has spurred a police investigation, the coroner's office confirmed.
Barnett's death — which was first reported by BBC News on Monday, March 11 — came not long after he was providing evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company.
Barnett, who worked as a quality control manager at the North Charleston plant, where the 787 Dreamliner is produced, had been vocal about his concerns with production standards there.
Barnett said that employees were pressured to install substandard parts on aircraft.
In 2019, Barnett told upper management that the assembly process was being rushed, causing compromised safety standards and specific problems with emergency oxygen systems in the aircraft. Barnett said that there was a 25 percent failure rate.
Barnett said his concerns were not seriously addressed, which led to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) review in 2017.
Boeing has been plagued by negative headlines in recent years.
Just recently, some of the company's planes have fallen apart midflight, have had wheels fall off of planes and runway issues.
According to NBC Bay Area, a federal investigation is underway after the wheel fell off a United Airlines jet after it took off Thursday, March 7 at San Francisco International Airport.
United Flight 35 was headed to Osaka, Japan when it was diverted to Los Angeles International Airport. No injuries were reported.
However, the most serious problems came via deadly plane crashes.
Five years ago, a defective Boeing 737 MAX flown by Ethiopian Airlines crashed, killing 157 people on board. Another 189 people were killed when a Lion Air Flight 610 crashed.
As a result of the crashes, more than 300 MAX planes were grounded globally.
Barnett, meanwhile, has been involved in legal action against the company that centered around accusations of character assassination because of his complaints about the company's practices.
Barnett was found dead in his truck in a hotel car park, an incident described as "tragic" by his lawyer.
While Boeing has denied Barnett's allegations, the company released a statement saying its team was "saddened" by his death.
“We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends," the company stated.