Mother of Boeing whistleblower claims he was driven to suicide by bullying

The heartbroken mother of the Boeing whistleblower who died by suicide has partly blamed the embattled company for his death.

John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck from a single gunshot to the head in a hotel parking lot in South Carolina on March 9 – seven years after he retired following a 32-year career. 

He was in town attending meetings as part of his lawsuit against Boeing, where he alleged they retaliated against him for airing his concerns about the company’s quality control. 

Barnett’s mother Vicky Stokes and brother Rodney Barnett spoke to CBS on Thursday and gave their side of the story, saying the stress from the battle with Boeing was hard on Barnett.

When asked if she blamed Boeing for Barnett’s death, she added: ‘If this hadn’t gone on so long, I’d still have my son, my son’s would still have their brother and we wouldn’t be sitting here.’

Boeing whistleblower’s Barnett’s mother Vicky Stokes and brother Rodney Barnett spoke to CBS on Thursday and gave their side of the story

Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck from a single gunshot to the head in a hotel parking lot in South Carolina on March 9

The family said Barnett lived his job for three decades, but became concerned after he was transferred to Boeing’s South Carolina plant in 2010 and noticed quality issues and procedures that were not being followed. 

Stokes said Boeing retaliated after Barnett went public with his concerns, and that the whistleblower was then often embarrassed in work meetings with where he would be ‘called out’ before leaving the job in 2017, citing job-related stress.

‘That would wear on anybody after seven or eight years,’ said the mom.

When asked if they believe Barnett’s death was a suicide, his brother replied that the family is waiting on the investigation to be over to make a judgement.

Barnett’s attorney Brian Knowles told CBS ‘the retaliation he faced was something he endured constantly.’

‘He wasn’t trying to hurt Boeing, he was trying to save Boeing,’ added the family’s attorney Robert Turkewitz. 

The family added they want Barnett’s legacy to be that Boeing addresses the safety issues he spoke about. 

Barnett’s death came during a break in depositions in a whistleblower retaliation suit, where he alleged under-pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the assembly line.

He said that in some cases, second-rate parts were literally removed from scrap bins, before being fitted to planes that were being built to prevent delays. A 2017 review by the FAA upheld some of his concerns, requiring Boeing to take action.

The family said Barnett lived his job for three decades, but became concerned after he was transferred to Boeing’s South Carolina plant in 2010 and noticed quality issues

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is finally stepping down as head of the troubled airline maker

Earlier this week, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced he would step down at the end of the year in the wake of a safety crisis at the troubled aerospace giant.

The company has been hit by problems including a near-catastrophic incident in on January 5 when a fuselage panel on a 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines jet blew off mid-flight.

Since then, the company has faced questions following several other potentially dangerous episodes – but regulators, airlines and passengers have been frustrated at the lack of answers from Calhoun.

Last week, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration blasted Boeing for focusing on ‘production’ instead of ‘safety and quality.’

Administrator Michael Whitaker was left unimpressed with the aerospace giant following a visit to its facilities.

‘My impressions were similar to the culture survey that just got completed at Boeing and our audit, which is that there are issues around the safety culture at Boeing,’ he told Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News in a segment that will air Tuesday evening.

Alaska Airlines has resumed service on the Boeing 737 MAX 9 following a three-week grounding in the wake of a January 5 emergency landing

A panel blew out from the fuselage of a 737 Max 9 aircraft carrying Alaska Airlines passengers on January 5

‘Their priorities have been on production, and not on safety and quality. So what we really are focused on now, is shifting that focus, from production to safety and quality.’

The FAA has put the company under intense scrutiny and recently ordered an audit of assembly lines at a Boeing factory near Seattle, where the company builds planes like the Alaska Airlines 737 Max that suffered a door-panel blowout.

No one was seriously injured on the Alaska flight, but the plane was forced to make an emergency landing with a gaping hole in the cabin.

Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at the Boeing factory.

The incident has raised scrutiny of Boeing to its highest level since two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.