Shivangi Sinha
Netflix’s ‘Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing’ is a documentary that features interviews with former and current Quality Check managers and technicians who worked at Boeing. While constructing the timeline of the operations of the company that has created a lot of speculation, the role of John Barnett was widely discussed. He was one of the first people to go public with his accusations against the airline on various fronts. His former colleagues spoke about what he was like as a person and why his death has raised so many questions.
John Barnett Filed a Whistleblower Complaint Against Boeing After Decades of Service
John Mitchell Barnett was born on February 23, 1962, in Mount Shasta, California. His father was a rail worker. He and his three older brothers were quite young when their mother, Vicky Stokes, separated from her husband. She moved to Alexandria, Louisiana, which is where Barnett grew up. He graduated from Bolton High School and decided to enlist in the Air Force. He completed his basic training, but since there were no more slots for training new recruits, he took up a job at Rockwell International in Palmdale, California. The firm manufactured parts for the Space Shuttle program, and Barnett himself got the opportunity to work as an electrician on the Rockwell B-1 Lancer.
In 1986, Barnett joined Boeing as a quality inspector and moved to the Camano Islands. He also decided to start attending Seattle University, but the hectic seven-day schedule of his new job proved too demanding, and he dropped out before graduating. He later moved to the Boeing Everett plant, where he even developed a training program for new recruits. In 2010, Barnett was transferred to the Boeing South Carolina plant, which produces the 787. It was during this period that he began raising concerns, as he felt that profits and speed were being prioritized over safety. He accused the company of not conducting proper quality checks and of hiring underqualified staff.
Barnett said that he allegedly faced pressure to work in “gray areas” rather than properly document defects. Some of the specific concerns he raised included discarded metal shavings near wiring for flight controls, problems involving an alleged shortage of oxygen on the planes, and allegations that he was asked to sign off on incomplete documentation. In 2013, he was demoted and removed from management, after which he went on to file an ethics complaint. He said that he had been demoted because he had sent an email about a complaint and was allegedly asked to discuss it face-to-face, which he believed was an attempt to avoid creating documentation. Finally, in 2017, Barnett filed an FAA AIR 21 whistleblower complaint against Boeing with OSHA.
John Barnett Was the First Boeing Employee to Speak About His Concerns in the Media
John Barnett’s complaints resulted in an FAA-ordered remedial action based on his concerns about non-conforming parts and metal shavings. Boeing’s own internal investigation also reportedly corroborated his complaints about faulty oxygen systems. Meanwhile, he accused the company of denying him promotions and better work opportunities for roles that he considered himself most qualified for. His family has said that, in 2017, a doctor advised him that his job was allegedly causing him a lot of stress, and that was the year he retired.
In 2019, Barnett became one of the first people to give public interviews on platforms such as the BBC and The New York Times. He discussed his accusations of malpractice at Boeing and raised concerns about the alleged shortfall in quality checks. In 2021, OSHA closed the complaint filed by Barnett in favor of the airline. His lawyers immediately filed a retaliatory lawsuit against Boeing, laying out the safety concerns he had raised and the alleged treatment Barnett said he received for speaking up about them. He continued to be outspoken in the media, and in 2022, he was featured on Netflix’s ‘Downfall: The Case Against Boeing’. In 2024, he also raised concerns about alleged technical failures at Boeing following the January 2024 Alaska Airlines door-plug blowout incident.
John Barnett Passed Away on the Third Day of His Deposition in the Whistleblower Case
By March 2024, John Barnett had moved back to Louisiana, and that month, he traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, for his deposition regarding the 2017 whistleblower complaint he had filed. He sat for two days of questioning, but on March 8, he returned to his hotel. CCTV footage showed him leaving and returning a few minutes later. He was not seen leaving it and is believed to have remained in his car till the next morning. On March 9, 2024, he failed to appear for the deposition. At around 10 am, his attorney called the hotel and asked them to conduct a welfare check.
That was when Barnett’s remains were found in his car in the parking lot. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and his fingers were reportedly on the trigger of the gun. A note reading, “I can’t do this any longer” and “I pray Boeing pays” was found on the seat. His car keys were still in his pocket, and the gun used was Barnett’s own legally owned pistol. The autopsy determined that the cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The investigation found that he had been under immense stress, possibly connected to PTSD and the ongoing whistleblower case. His family has continued to demand accountability from Boeing and filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the company. They want to ensure that his retaliation case moves forward.
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