Mr. Dean had filed a complaint with the FAA alleging serious and gross misconduct with quality control management at Spirit AeroSystems.
A former quality auditor at a Boeing supplier died suddenly this week after struggling with a “sudden, fast-spreading infection,” the Seattle Times reported on May 1.
Joshua “Josh” Dean, a Spirit AeroSystems employee who was one of the first to allege his company had ignored manufacturing defects on Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft, died at 45 years old on Tuesday, a family member confirmed to the outlet.
He is the second whistleblower to die recently after John “Mitch” Barnett died in March from what authorities ruled as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Mr. Barnett and Mr. Dean were both represented by the same law firm in South Carolina.
Mr. Barnett had previously recounted an experience in 2012 when he claimed to have identified roughly 300 defects at Spirit AeroSystems, where Mr. Dean worked, only to discover later that inspectors sent after him were given limited time and were lauded for finding fewer issues.
An attorney for Mr. Dean told the Seattle Times that he didn’t want to speculate about the close timing and circumstances of the two deaths, noting it was a “difficult set of circumstances” and the firm’s thoughts were with Mr. Barnett and Mr. Dean’s families.
The outlet reported that Mr. Dean filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration alleging serious and gross misconduct with quality control management at Spirit AeroSystems and gave a deposition in a shareholder lawsuit against the company recently.
Spirit fired Mr. Dean in April 2023, and he had filed a complaint with the Department of Labor alleging his termination was in retaliation for raising concerns related to aviation safety.
Mr. Dean lived in Wichita, Kansas, where Spirit Aerosystems is located, according to the outlet, and died after two weeks in critical condition after he became ill and went to the hospital when he started having trouble breathing. His aunt, Carol Parsons, told the outlet that he was intubated, developed pneumonia, and then developed a serious bacterial infection before rapidly deteriorating.
By Chase Smith
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