Who was John Barnett? Former Boeing employee flagged safety lapses in Dreamliner programme
An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing 241 of 242 people on board. The aircraft was flying to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad. The crash is the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 787 since it entered service in 2009, and one of the worst tragedies in India's aviation history.
The crash has turned the spotlight back on John Barnett, a former Boeing quality control manager who, police say, died by suicide after lawyers questioned him about his whistleblowing on alleged jumbo jet defects.
Born on February 23, 1962, in California, Barnett was a graduate of Bolton High School, and had moved to Louisiana with his mother and three older brothers after his parents' separation.
Barnett was a cab driver before he joined the US Air Force, an NDTV report said. Later, he joined Rockwell International in Palmdale, California, where he worked on parts of NASA's Space Shuttle programme, including the Atlantis orbiter, the report added.
In the 1980s, Barnett worked as an electrician on the B-1 Lancer bomber. In 1988, he joined Boeing as a quality inspector after settling on Camano Island, Washington. By 2010, he was working at Boeing's South Carolina plant in North Charleston, the assembly line for the 787 Dreamliner.
Barnett, a longtime Boeing employee, shared his safety concerns with journalists after he retired in 2017. He said he once saw discarded metal shavings near wiring for the flight controls that could have cut the wiring and caused a catastrophe. He also noted problems with up to a quarter of the oxygen systems on Boeing's 787 planes, an AP report said.
Between 2010 and 2017, Barnett said there was a steady decline in safety protocols at the North Charleston plant. According to him, employees were being pressured to overlook defects and meet production quotas, the NDTV report added.
Barnett also claimed some parts were missing or not properly recorded during the building process, showing poor safety checks, apart from other concerns about how Boeing was building its planes.
In 2017, he filed formal complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The FAA did confirm certain issues he highlighted and instructed Boeing to fix them. OSHA later dismissed his claims, ruling in favour of Boeing in 2021, a decision Barnett appealed, the report said.
According to an AP report, Barnett shared his concerns with his supervisors and others before leaving Boeing, but according to a lawsuit filed by his family against the aircraft maker, they responded by ignoring him and then harassing him.
In 2019, Barnett went public with his allegations in media interviews. According to the police, the 62-year-old shot himself on March 9, 2024, in Charleston after answering questions from attorneys for several days. He lived in Louisiana.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
9 hours ago
- Time of India
Netherlands returns 119 looted artefacts known as Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
AP image ABUJA: The Netherlands on Thursday returned 119 artefacts looted from Nigeria, including human and animal figures, plaques, royal regalia and a bell. The artefacts, known as the Benin Bronzes and mostly housed in a museum in the city of Leiden, were looted in the late 19th century by British soldiers. In recent years, museums across Europe and North America have moved to address ownership disputes over artefacts looted during the colonial era. They were returned at the request of Nigeria's national commission for museums and monuments. During the handover ceremony in Edo State, Oba Ewuare II, the monarch and custodian of Benin culture, described the return of the artefacts as a "divine intervention." The Benin Bronzes were returned at the request of Nigeria's national commission for museums and monuments. The restitution is a testament to the power of prayer and determination, the monarch said. The Dutch government is committed to returning artefacts that do not belong to the country, said Marieke Van Bommel, director of the Wereld Museum. Olugbile Holloway, the commission's director, said the return of 119 artefacts marks the largest single repatriation to date and that his organisation is working hard to recover more items looted during colonial times. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Rent Or Buy Motorhomes Today (See Offers) Yahoo Search | Search ads Learn More Undo Nigeria formally requested the return of hundreds of objects from museums around the world in 2022. Some 72 objects were returned from a London museum that year while 31 were returned from a museum in Rhode Island. The Benin Bronzes were stolen in 1897 when British forces under the command of Sir Henry Rawson sacked the Benin kingdom and forced Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, the monarch at the time, into a six-month exile. Benin is located in modern-day southern Nigeria.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Time of India
Days After Air India Crash: Air Crews Fasten Mental Seat belts Against Trauma
A day after the deadly Air India crash , a copilot withdrew from a scheduled flight even after reporting for duty. His colleagues said the pilot mentioned he was feeling ill, though he did not show any visible physical discomfort. The airline later operated the flight with a separate crew. The June 12 Air India crash killed hundreds and sent shockwaves that are still reverberating through the aviation industry. Flight crews have the added responsibility of dealing with their own grief and fears, while also calming the flying public. 'I could not help but put myself in the shoes of those on board,' a senior pilot wrote in an internal chat group of an airline. 'As someone who is always in transit — boarding flights, chasing on-time performance — (I felt) it could have been any one of us.' 'What struck me hardest was not the crash alone but the quiet, overlooked reality of how we often leave home. No hugs. No pause. No proper goodbye. Just a rush out the door, a distracted wave, or, worse, leaving after a fight or silence. Today reminded me how fragile it all is. And how precious,' the pilot wrote. His line of thought is a common refrain among airline crews in India. Pilots and flight attendants are highly-trained professionals, with sound physical fitness and mental alertness being their core job criteria. However, for many of them, it is still difficult to accept the Air India tragedy, more so due to Boeing 787's enviable safety record. The Dreamliner clocked millions of flying hours across airlines globally and never saw a fatal crash prior to Ahmedabad. The plane has multiple inbuilt redundancies for critical components. Especially then, for people who trust technology thousands of feet up in the air, the helplessness of the Ahmedabad crew strikes deep. A grainy video captured on a smartphone by a student showed the ill-fated aircraft taking off, then descending before exploding into a ball of fire. With a probe into the accident in its initial phase, various theories suggest dual engine failure to possible sabotage. 'We are taught that a double-engine failure is kind of impossible, if not caused by external factors like a bird hit,' said a pilot who operates an aircraft similar to the 787. '(But now) though we are highly trained, doubt starts creeping into the mind; it's natural. Following the crash, pilots have become extra cautious about minute faults in an aircraft, unlike before, he said. 'I am questioning the status of every item in the minimum equipment list (MEL),' the pilot said. MEL specifies which equipment can be inoperative on an aircraft while still allowing it to operate safely. A double engine failure occurring seconds after take-off, when the plane was only several hundred feet off the ground, would have left the two pilots without any time to respond to the emergency. 'Go to the stopwatch on your smartphone. Press start. Wait for 32 seconds. Press stop. Now ask yourself: What could you do in that time? Brush your teeth? Have a shower? Wear your clothes? Have a cup of coffee? None of the above. That is the time the pilots of AI 171 got,' read a message on a pilot's social media group. Continuous coverage on television and social media is further fuelling panic, multiple airline crews told ET, requesting for factual reporting. 'The media starts to conduct parallel trials with ill-informed guests making unsubstantiated accusations. This leads to severe mental trauma and becomes a stumbling block in their performance,' Parliamentarian Priyanka Chaturvedi said in a letter to civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu, urging guidelines for reporting aviation accidents. Airlines are also rushing to respond to the new crisis while hoping that it would be self-healing. Air India has established a dedicated 'peer group' to provide mental health support and counselling for crew. Comprising former Air Force officers and experienced female pilots, the group offers pre-flight counselling and emotional support. 'There is no uniform fix to this. It will depend on his/her mental strength on how quickly they can cope with it,' an airline executive said. As airline crews cope with the tragedy and lean on improved mental health resources, they are also returning to the skies. 'When something like this happens, it makes it almost impossible not to feel the weight of the souls on board. I was scared but since I was already at the airport, I decided to be the strength to my team. I check on my colleagues after work and we reassure each other,' said a flight attendant working for Air India. Family members too are burying their fears under hope. 'I used to be very proud of that crisp white shirt but now my heart feels heavy when either of them wears that uniform,' said a mother of two pilot sons. 'Have we chosen a dangerous profession for our sons, I sometimes think. But my husband tells me, there were 29 medical students in the college who also died. Did they choose the wrong profession?'
Economic Times
14 hours ago
- Economic Times
Air crews fasten mental seatbelts against trauma
Troubling Theories Live Events No Single Answer Yet (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A day after the deadly Air India crash , a copilot withdrew from a scheduled flight even after reporting for duty. His colleagues said the pilot mentioned he was feeling ill, though he did not show any visible physical discomfort. The airline later operated the flight with a separate June 12 Air India crash killed hundreds and sent shockwaves that are still reverberating through the aviation industry. Flight crews have the added responsibility of dealing with their own grief and fears, while also calming the flying public.'I could not help but put myself in the shoes of those on board,' a senior pilot wrote in an internal chat group of an airline. 'As someone who is always in transit — boarding flights, chasing on-time performance — (I felt) it could have been any one of us.''What struck me hardest was not the crash alone but the quiet, overlooked reality of how we often leave home. No hugs. No pause. No proper goodbye. Just a rush out the door, a distracted wave, or, worse, leaving after a fight or silence. Today reminded me how fragile it all is. And how precious,' the pilot line of thought is a common refrain among airline crews in and flight attendants are highly-trained professionals, with sound physical fitness and mental alertness being their core job criteria. However, for many of them, it is still difficult to accept the Air India tragedy, more so due to Boeing 787's enviable safety Dreamliner clocked millions of flying hours across airlines globally and never saw a fatal crash prior to Ahmedabad. The plane has multiple inbuilt redundancies for critical then, for people who trust technology thousands of feet up in the air, the helplessness of the Ahmedabad crew strikes deep.A grainy video captured on a smartphone by a student showed the ill-fated aircraft taking off, then descending before exploding into a ball of a probe into the accident in its initial phase, various theories suggest dual engine failure to possible sabotage.'We are taught that a double-engine failure is kind of impossible, if not caused by external factors like a bird hit,' said a pilot who operates an aircraft similar to the 787. '(But now) though we are highly trained, doubt starts creeping into the mind; it's the crash, pilots have become extra cautious about minute faults in an aircraft, unlike before, he said. 'I am questioning the status of every item in the minimum equipment list (MEL),' the pilot said. MEL specifies which equipment can be inoperative on an aircraft while still allowing it to operate safely.A double engine failure occurring seconds after take-off, when the plane was only several hundred feet off the ground, would have left the two pilots without any time to respond to the emergency.'Go to the stopwatch on your smartphone. Press start. Wait for 32 seconds. Press stop. Now ask yourself: What could you do in that time? Brush your teeth? Have a shower? Wear your clothes? Have a cup of coffee? None of the above. That is the time the pilots of AI 171 got,' read a message on a pilot's social media coverage on television and social media is further fuelling panic, multiple airline crews told ET, requesting for factual reporting.'The media starts to conduct parallel trials with ill-informed guests making unsubstantiated accusations. This leads to severe mental trauma and becomes a stumbling block in their performance,' Parliamentarian Priyanka Chaturvedi said in a letter to civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu, urging guidelines for reporting aviation are also rushing to respond to the new crisis while hoping that it would be self-healing. Air India has established a dedicated 'peer group' to provide mental health support and counselling for crew. Comprising former Air Force officers and experienced female pilots, the group offers pre-flight counselling and emotional support.'There is no uniform fix to this. It will depend on his/her mental strength on how quickly they can cope with it,' an airline executive airline crews cope with the tragedy and lean on improved mental health resources, they are also returning to the skies. 'When something like this happens, it makes it almost impossible not to feel the weight of the souls on board. I was scared but since I was already at the airport, I decided to be the strength to my team. I check on my colleagues after work and we reassure each other,' said a flight attendant working for Air members too are burying their fears under hope. 'I used to be very proud of that crisp white shirt but now my heart feels heavy when either of them wears that uniform,' said a mother of two pilot sons. 'Have we chosen a dangerous profession for our sons, I sometimes think. But my husband tells me, there were 29 medical students in the college who also died. Did they choose the wrong profession?'
