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45-year-old Joshua Dean has now become the second whistleblower linked to the Boeing scandal to die in the last two months, reportedly after experiencing ‘a sudden illness’.

It was later confirmed that Dean had contracted influenza B, MRSA and developed pneumonia.

He was reportedly among the first whistleblowers to accuse Spirit AeroSystems leadership of ignoring defects on the 737 MAX. In October 2022, Dean raised concerns about what he alleged were manufacturing defects in the 737 MAX, TIME and Newsweek reported.

He also filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration accusing Spirit of “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line”. He was fired a few months later, in April 2023.

Carol Parsons, Dean’s aunt, said her nephew was in critical condition for two weeks prior to his death, according to the Times. He was apparently in good health before falling ill, as well.

His family said in posts on social media that Dean was first diagnosed with influenza B and MRSA, a bacterial infection, before developing pneumonia, and was eventually airlifted to a hospital in Oklahoma City and later put on an ECMO machine. A CT scan revealed he had experienced a stroke at some point.

“He is in the worst condition I have ever known or heard of. Even the hospital agrees,” the former quality auditor’s sister-in-law, Kristen Dean, said in a Facebook post. Dean’s death was announced three days later.

“Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family,” a spokesperson for Spirit AeroSystems says in a statement obtained by People. “This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.”

Dean’s death occurred less than two months after another Boeing-linked whistleblower, John Barnett, was found dead on March 9 in Charleston, S.C., where he was delivering a deposition in connection with a whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing.

The Charleston County Coroner’s Office said the 62-year-old Louisiana man died from an apparent suicide, according to a statement.  Lawyers for Barnett however said their client “was in very good spirits” at the time, and was “really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him.”

They described him as “a brave, honest man of the highest integrity” who “cared dearly” about the Boeing company, his Boeing co-workers and those who flew on Boeing aircraft. “We didn’t see any indication he would take his own life,” Knowles and Robert Turkewitz said in a statement previously obtained by PEOPLE. “No one can believe it.”

For those unfamiliar with the Boeing scandal, the below episode of John Oliver Tonight goes into great detail about the downward spiral of one of the two major aeroplane manufacturers in the world.

Whistleblowers dying always raises a few eyebrows. According to one of the still-alive whistleblowers, Boeing took shortcuts when manufacturing its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets by skipping crucial safety steps which could lead to catastrophic failure of the aeroplanes as they age.

According to general consensus amongst the people in the know, the once-great Boeing’s standards began lowering after a merger with its rival Lockheed Martin, who had a less-than-stellar record when it came to safety. According to reports, Lockheed Martin was more interested in making money, than keeping its aeroplanes in the air.

[source:people]