J.oshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems who flagged safety concerns and alleged misconduct by the aircraft manufacturer, he died Tuesday after a sudden and serious infection.
Dean is the second Boeing-linked whistleblower to die in the past two months as the company comes under heightened scrutiny.
Dean, who was 45 years old and lived in Wichita, Kansas, was in good health before he started having trouble breathing about two weeks ago and went to a hospital, according to the Seattle Times, who first reported his death. Dean’s deterioration from that point on, his aunt told the newspaper, was “brutal” and “painful.”
According to a series of public posts from Dean’s family on social media, as of April 21, he was in “very critical condition.” Dean tested positive for influenza B and MRSA, a difficult-to-treat bacterial infection, and developed pneumonia. He was intubated and placed on dialysis, as well as airlifted to another hospital to be placed on an ECMO machine, a form of cardiac and respiratory life support. A CT scan showed he had also suffered a stroke. Doctors were considering amputating his hands and feet, which had turned black from lack of oxygen.
“He is in the worst condition I have ever known or heard about. Even the hospital agrees,” Dean’s sister-in-law, Kristen Dean, posted on Facebook on Saturday, April 27. On Sunday night, Dean’s family posted that he was “giving up the fight” and “refusing to let them do any life-saving procedures.” ”, although his mother said she “told the doctor he doesn’t know what he wants, I’m sure he wants to live, he’s scared, scared and depressed.” According to Dean’s mother, the doctor agreed and performed a bronchoscopy, a surgical procedure to investigate the lungs and airways. Dean’s family announced that he had passed away on Tuesday morning.
“Your absence will be deeply felt,” his aunt posted on Facebook.
“Josh’s passing is a loss to the aviation community and the flying public,” Brian Knowles, an attorney who represented Dean as well as the other whistleblower, John Barnett, who died in March, told TIME. “He possessed tremendous courage to stand up for what he considered true and right and raised issues of quality and safety.”
Spirit AeroSystems, a company that was spun off from Boeing in 2005 and currently faces financial problems and an uncertain future, did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment, but said in a statement cited by other media outlets: “Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.”
Dean, who had worked at Spirit since 2019 although he was briefly laid off during the pandemic before returning in 2021, first raised concerns about improperly drilled bulkhead holes in some 737 Max planes at Spirit’s Wichita factory in October 2022, according to with a shareholder action that accused Spirit of hiding your production problems.
Although Dean reported the problem to multiple managers, the complaint alleged, the company hid it from investors for months until it became public knowledge in August 2023, when Boeing It is Spirit announced a delay in plane deliveries due to the defect. According to testimonials of Spirit employees, including Dean, workers were instructed or pressured by supervisors to minimize the defects they found.
“It’s known in Spirit that if you make a lot of noise and cause a lot of trouble, you’re going to get emotional,” Dean told Wall Street Journal in January. “That doesn’t mean you completely disregard things, but they don’t want you to find everything and write it down.”
Dean was fired by Spirit in April 2023, apparently because of a separate issue that he failed to identify as an internal inspector. Months later, he filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration, alleging he was made a scapegoat, while Spirit did nothing to inform regulators and the public about the concerns it had flagged.
After a high-profile incident in January in which a door on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 exploded during an Alaska Airlines flight, Dean’s former colleague Lance Thompson publicly supported Dean’s claims about the Seattle Timessaying that production deadlines were prioritized over safety at Spirit’s Wichita plant and that managers encouraged workers to hide defects. An FAA audit of Boeing and Spirit found in March that both companies did not meet quality control requirements.
Dean had filed a complaint to the Department of Labor in November alleging wrongful termination of employment by Spirit, a case that remained pending at the time of his death. “I think they were sending a message to someone else,” Dean said. NPR in February: “If you speak too loudly, we will silence you.”
Dean’s death comes less than two months after the death of Barnett, another whistleblower who spent years raising awareness about lax safety standards at Boeing. Barnett was found in his truck with what authorities described as an apparent “self-inflicted gunshot wound” in Charleston, S.C., on March 9, amid statements he was giving related to an alleged similar retaliatory dispute with Boeing. An investigation remains ongoing.
When asked about the recent deaths of his two clients, which have sparked conspiracy theories on social media, Knowles told TIME: “I don’t want to speculate and would like to see the evidence from the investigating authorities.” But, he adds, “what society doesn’t need is people afraid to speak out.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
