Boeing whistleblower Joshua Dean has become the second whistleblower to die suddenly after speaking out to expose the company’s safety flaws, his family has confirmed.
45-year-old Dean’s family revealed that he died following a sudden illness.
On Friday, Dean’s mother said in a Facebook post that her son had contracted an MRSA infection.
He was reportedly hospitalized after the unexpected infection triggered a stroke and pneumonia.
She said that her son was “fighting for his life.”
Dean’s aunt Carol Parsons said the family was shocked that he was rushed to the intensive care unit (ICU) because he was in good health.
Parsons has since confirmed his death after he was declared to be in a critical condition.
“It was brutal what he went through…heartbreaking,” she told The Seattle Times.
Known as Josh, Dean lived in Wichita, Kansas, where Spirit is based.
He had been in good health and was noted for having a healthy lifestyle, the outlet notes.
His sudden decline started when he had trouble breathing which saw him put on a ventilator.
He was eventually put on an ECMO machine that takes over heart and lung function.
According to Parsons, Dean’s doctors were considering amputating both of his hands and feet.
His lawyer Brian Knowles called his death a “loss to the aviation community and the flying public.”
Dean was an employee of Spirit AeroSystems.
He has come forward to claim that he was fired after alerting people to the Boeing supplier’s negligence in the production of the 737 MAX passenger jets.
The 45-year-old who worked as a quality auditor, flagged poor production standards at the Witchita, Kansas plant which allegedly saw defects ignored.
Dean filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration claiming “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line” at the Spirit plant.
The company then fired him in April 2023 and he claimed that this was a result of raising his concerns.
“I think they were sending out a message to anybody else. If you are too loud, we will silence you,” he told NPR in January.
“I’m not saying they don’t want you to go out there and inspect a job. You know, they do.
“But if you make too much trouble, you will get the Josh treatment.
“You will get what happened to me.”
He had also given a deposition in a lawsuit by Spirit shareholders in which he alleged “excessive” defects at the plant in Kansas.
These claims have been strongly denied by a Spirit spokesperson who told NPR that the allegations are being fought in court.
Meanwhile, in a tribute to the whistleblower, Knowles praised Dean’s “tremendous courage.”
“He possessed tremendous courage to stand up for what he felt was true and right and raised quality and safety issues,” Knowles told Al Jazeera.
“Aviation companies should encourage and incentivize those that do raise these concerns.
“Otherwise, safety and quality are truly not these companies’ top priorities.”
“This sudden loss is stunning news here at Spriti and for his loved ones,” a spokesperson for Spirit AeroSystems told The U.S. Sun.
“Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family.”
The company is under immense pressure following a mid-flight fault that saw a door panel blow out of a 737 MAX 9 in January.
Sprit was found to have installed the panel that caused the incident on the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 sparking concerns about safety on Boeing planes.
Dean’s death comes less than two months after John Barnett was found dead, as Slay News reported.
Barnett, another Boeing whistleblower, died suddenly from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The 62-year-old had worked for Boeing for 32 years before he retired in 2017.
At the time of his death, Barnett was giving evidence of alleged wrongdoing at Boeing to investigators working on a lawsuit against the company, according to a BBC report.
Barnett was found in his truck on March 9 in the parking lot of a hotel in South Carolina where he had been staying while completing his interviews with investigators.
While his death was ruled an apparent suicide “from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” by the Charleston County Coroner’s Office, a police investigation into Barnett’s death is ongoing, per The Times.
There have been mounting suspicions regarding the circumstances surrounding Barnett’s death.
His friends and family insisted that he was not suicidal and was excited about his future plans.
Shortly after his death, as Slay News reported, an eerie message emerged from Barnett from before he died.
He warned that, if he is found dead, his death is “not suicide.”
Both Dean and Barnett were represented by the same law firm based in South Carolina.
“Whistleblowers are needed,” Knowles, Dean’s attorney, told the Times as he declined to speculate about the timing of the two deaths.
“They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society.
“It takes a lot of courage to stand up.
“It’s a difficult set of circumstances.
“Our thoughts now are with John’s family and Josh’s family.”
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