Whistleblower allegations and the passing of another whistleblower continue to swirl around Boeing.
The passing of Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor fired in retaliation from Spirit AeroSystems after raising safety concerns about the 737 Max jet, on Tuesday, April 30, marks another tragic event in the ongoing Boeing saga.
Dean’s family told NPR on May 2 that he died of a “sudden, fast-spreading infection” quickly after being diagnosed with an MRSA bacterial infection.
Dean was among the first to flag potential safety issues with 737 Max jets at Spirit AeroSystems, a major Boeing supplier established separately from the plane maker in 2005. Dean is the .
Santiago Paredes, a former quality manager at Spirit AeroSystems in Kansas, also raised concerns about defects in 737 Max aircraft. He encountered numerous issues during inspections, including those surrounding the aircraft door panel, like the one that detached in the middle of the Alaska Airlines flight in January. These experiences made him question the safety of the 737 Max aircraft and caused him to hesitate to fly on that model plane, a concern he shared with .
According to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation, the Alaska Airlines door panel was removed during the final assembly to enable Spirit AeroSystems to address defects. However, it appears that the bolts holding the panel were not reinstalled afterward.
Paredes said that his managers at Spirit AeroSystems would pressure him to keep reports of defects to a minimum because too many defects would delay deliveries. In particular, Paredes said his bosses asked him to speed up the inspections by being less detailed about the problems found in February 2022. He was removed from his team leadership position after he emailed his managers about this “unethical” situation. By the summer of 2022, Paredes resigned from Spirit because he could no longer tolerate such an uncomfortable situation.
Reuters reports a Boeing engineering union will offer trainings on U.S. whistleblower laws in the wake of renewed attention on Boeing whistleblowers and retaliation.
The National Whistleblower Center issued an Action Alert urging Congress to investigate whistleblowers’ allegations against Boeing.