Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, died suddenly due to a severe and fast-spreading infection. Dean, 45, had been a whistleblower who alleged that Spirit AeroSystems’ leadership ignored manufacturing defects on the Boeing 737 MAX production line.
Dean had reported having trouble breathing and was taken to the hospital where he developed pneumonia and MRSA. His family has sought an autopsy due to the sudden and unexpected nature of his illness. Dean’s death comes just weeks after another Boeing whistleblower, John Barnett, was found dead in his truck from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Before his death, Dean was one of the initial whistleblowers who alleged that Spirit’s leadership failed to acknowledge the deficiencies in Boeing’s 737 MAX airliners. He was in the midst of giving a deposition in a shareholder lawsuit filed in 2023 against Spirit. The lawsuit claimed that Spirit concealed defects that Dean had reported, including “mis-drilled holes” in the rear bulkhead of the MAX planes. These defects could potentially create cracks and threaten an aircraft’s structural integrity.
Read more at: fortune.com