A Boeing whistleblower who raised the alarm about defects in 737 Max jets has died suddenly at the age of 45.
Joshua Dean previously said he was fired from his job as a quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems for questioning standards at the supplier’s plant in Wichita, Kansas, in October 2022.
The Boeing jet’s door plug, which unexpectedly blew out midair during an Alaska Airlines trip in January, was made by Spirit.
Dean’s family posted on social media that he passed away in the hospital on Tuesday following an unexpected illness. April 2023 saw his termination from Spirit AeroSystems.
Earlier this year, Dean spoke with NPR about being fired. ‘I think they were sending out a message to anybody else. If you are too loud, we will silence you,’ he said.
Over the last six months, Boeing’s share price has dropped by nearly 10% to $173.86 as further safety concerns have surfaced.
Dean’s aunt, Carol Parsons, confirmed his death in a series of Facebook posts, as did other family members in messages seen by MailOnline.
She also gave the Seattle Times a statement confirming his passing.
Parsons informed the newspaper that Dean had respiratory problems and had visited a hospital in his hometown of Wichita, Kansas.
Dean needed to be intubated after contracting MRSA and pneumonia during his hospitalisation.
‘I am grateful for the prayers of my family and friends for this young man,’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘He passed away yesterday morning, and his absence will be deeply felt. We will always love you, Josh.’
His former employer, Spirit AeroSystems, shared a statement expressing condolences to Dean’s family.
‘Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family, spokesperson Joe Buccino said. ‘This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.’
Boeing has consistently refuted allegations made by whistleblowers like Dean that the business purposefully disregarded safety alerts.
According to a Facebook post made by his mother, Dean was cognizant and interacting with medical professionals as recently as Monday.
‘At the time, a doctor told him that he had a ’50/50 chance of living,’ she wrote.
‘Josh is very depressed, frightened, and doing a lot of sleeping and not responding as much as he was a few days ago, and has not been on any sedation or pain meds.’
Dean was breathing with an ECMO machine in his last days.
People have been advised for a long time to speak out and inform senior management if anything doesn’t seem right or feels right at work, and they shouldn’t be scared to express their worries and anxieties.
That appears to be no longer the case for Boeing or any of its vendors.
Running a group of companies where people are too scared to speak out when something is wrong is criminal. People need to be able to speak out safely and without persecution, otherwise, mistakes will be made and continue to be made and that will cost lives. But this is because we worship money and material stuff, and then people are willing to compromise everything for a buck.
However, persecution is the wrong word; execution is what happened. Boeing is a huge industry with many government ties, and it would be very difficult for anyone of integrity to take their concerns to the government without Boeing getting word of it.
Nothing seems off about this, does it? Whistleblowers who are in perfect health frequently pass away unexpectedly, don’t they?
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