Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems and one of the first whistleblowers to allege Spirit leadership had ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, died Tuesday morning after a struggle with a sudden, fast-spreading infection.
Dean, 45, had an active lifestyle and was believed to be in good health prior to his “sudden” death on Tuesday, following the onset of a sudden, fast-moving infection. He was stricken with Influenza B and MRSA, and developed pneumonia, according to Fox59.
He spent two weeks in critical condition before he died on Tuesday.
“Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones,” Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino said.
Dean’s death is the latest point on a the timeline of strange mishaps that have plagued Boeing for more than a year.
On 5 January, a door plug panel on a new Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft tore off while it was cruising at 16,000 feet.
The FAA subsequently grounded 171 of the company’s MAX 9 aircrafts for review. It has also prohibited the company from increasing production of the MAX series aircraft, and has ordered it to develop a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality-control issues”.
The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines incident. The investigation will centre on whether Boeing complied with a 2021 settlement it agreed to after a pair of deadly crashes that were attributed to faults in its 737 MAX Maneuvering Characterists Augmentation System, Forbes reports.
The Alaska Airlines flight wasn’t just the impetus for a federal investigation, it also was a “watershed moment” that drove the Boeing CEO and two other top executives to resign.
On 25 Monday, Mr Calhoun said the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 incident was a “watershed moment” for Boeing, and said he would resign at the end of 2024. He insisted that the company needed a more “transparent” approach going forward.
“We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company,” Mr Calhoun wrote.
Dean’s actions suggest he agreed that more transparency was needed in the industry; he was fired from Spirit Aerosystems in April 2023, and he complained later that his termination was in retaliation for raising issues with the company over aircraft safety.
He said that “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line” had taken place at Spirit, in a complaint to the Federal Aviation Administration.
He is the second whistleblower to die this year after coming forward about safety issues in the aviation manufacturing industry.
Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck in a hotel parking lot in South Carolina in March.
via: The Independent
