He was 45 years old, and had been fighting for nearly two years against the safety problems of planes built by Boeing. American whistleblower Joshua Dean died this Tuesday from a series of severe infections, particularly MRSA, a form of Staphylococcus aureus that is particularly dangerous and difficult to treat. A disappearance which follows that of John Barnett, two months ago, also engaged against the anthology of failures resulting from failings attributable to Boeing.
Joshua Dean became known from October 2022. Working as a quality technician for a factory of a main supplier to Boeing, Spirit AeroSystem, he reported to his management serious manufacturing defects on the 737 manufacturing line Max, without her making the slightest decision to improve the situation. Revelations which echo the numerous incidents which have affected the American manufacturer’s planes in recent months, from a door torn off in mid-flight on a 737 MAX to the loss of a tire forcing an emergency landing, including an engine catching fire, or even the opening of a plane’s hold in mid-flight.
Finally fired in April 2023, after numerous safety problems at Spirit and Boeing became public, Joshua Dean filed a complaint against his former employer with the United States Federal Aviation Administration, highlighting “misconduct serious and rude on the part of those responsible for the quality of the 737 production line at Spirit. In November, he also filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor alleging wrongful termination by Spirit, a case that was still pending at the time of his death. “I think they wanted to send a message to everyone else. If you are too loud, we will silence you,” declared the man who had become one of the main whistleblowers on the subject, on American radio NPR last February.
Pressures put on employees
Because beyond the manufacturing problems revealed, it is also the way in which Boeing and Spirit sought to cover up the affair which raises many questions. “It is known at Spirit that if you make too much noise and cause too much trouble, you will be transferred,” Joshua Dean told the Wall Street Journal last January. Several employees of the supplier also told the American newspaper Time having been pressured to downplay defects they found during the manufacturing process of the plane’s parts.
Testimonies and damning evidence have since continued to accumulate against Boeing. A former colleague of Joshua Dean, Lance Thompson, publicly supported the latter’s assertions, telling the Seattle Times that production times were prioritized over safety at the Spirit factory in Wichita, where Joshua Dean worked. Finally, an audit by the American Federal Aviation Administration, covering Boeing and Spirit, revealed in March that the two companies had not complied with legal requirements in terms of quality control.
A second whistleblower who dies in two months
According to Seattle Times, Joshua Dean had not encountered any particular health problems before, and was known for having a healthy lifestyle. Until two weeks ago, he started having great difficulty breathing, before being hospitalized. Since then, the deterioration in his condition has been nothing short of “brutal” and “heartbreaking,” his aunt said. Testing positive for influenza B and MRSA bacteria, he developed pneumonia, while tests also showed he had suffered a stroke. Doctors went so far as to consider amputating his hands and feet, which had turned black due to lack of oxygen, report American media. “We don’t know exactly what he died of,” Virginia Green, Dean’s mother, told US public radio NPR, adding that she had requested an autopsy. “We know he had a bunch of viruses. But we don’t know if someone did something to him or if he just got sick.”
Because this sudden disappearance necessarily echoes that of another whistleblower against Boeing, John Barnett. Aged 62, the former employee of the group had also publicly denounced the pressure put on employees in the American manufacturer’s factories, which according to him could only lead to the serious safety failures which occurred. Deciding to take legal action, he was finally found dead in his truck on March 9, from a “self-inflicted gunshot wound” according to the authorities, while an investigation was still underway.
Brian Knowles, one of Joshua Dean’s attorneys, said he did not want to speculate on the temporal proximity and circumstances of the two deaths. “Whistleblowers are necessary. They highlight wrongdoing and corruption, for the benefit of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up and resist,” he said. “This is a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with John’s family and Josh’s family.” For its part, Spirit AeroSystem also reacted in a press release. “Our hearts go out to Josh Dean’s family. This sudden loss is stunning news here for his loved ones.”