Boeing lost $4 billion in value overnight after it emerged that a whistleblower suing the aerospace giant had died of an alleged self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Shares fell more than 4 percent Tuesday morning as the aerospace giant’s stock fell to a five-month low on news late Monday that John Barnett was found dead in a hotel parking lot in Charleston, SC, on Sunday.
Barnett, 62, had been in the middle of a settlement in a whistleblower lawsuit in Charleston related to the production of the 787 Dreamliner, according to his lawyer. The suit alleged that vacuum workers knowingly fitted ‘substandard’ parts to Boeing 787s and that brass swept errors under the carpet to save money.
It also emerged Monday that an audit by the Federal Aviation Administration found that Boeing failed 33 of the 89 product audits that were conducted.
It follows weeks of scandal since a door stopper blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5. Since then, Boeing’s value has risen from $150 billion to $112 billion.
Shares fell more than 4 percent Tuesday morning as the aerospace giant’s stock fell to a five-month low on news late Monday that John Barnett was found dead in a hotel parking lot in Charleston, SC, on Sunday
Since a door stopper blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5, Boeing’s value has risen from $150 billion to $112 billion.
Former Boeing quality chief John Barnett, 62, issued an ominous warning back in January about two specific aircraft models that were recently involved in accidents – before turning up dead on Saturday. He will be seen in 2022
He said he had issues with how Boeing was handling its production of its 737s and 787s in particular, days after a door stopper blew out on a 737 blew out at 16,000 feet,
Barnett was found dead inside his truck Saturday in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Charleston, pictured above
Barnett had worked at Boeing for 32 years before leaving the company in 2017, according to the BBC, which previously reported on his efforts to raise questions about the company’s manufacturing problems.
The 62-year-old died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Charleston County Coroner’s Office in South Carolina confirmed Tuesday.
Charleston City police are investigating, the coroner’s office said, without providing other details.
Boeing said in a statement: ‘We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing and our thoughts go out to his family and friends.’
Barnett’s lawyer, Brian Knowles, told the BBC that Barnett had been at the center of a whistleblower case in Charleston related to the production of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Barnett had spoken to the media after the Jan. 5 incident on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane, when a panel blew out while the flight was airborne, exposing passengers to the outside air that required an emergency landing.
Boeing has since had to reckon with a complete crisis around its safety and quality standards.
Its production has been slowed by US regulators, leading to delivery delays across the aerospace industry.
Shares of Southwest Airlines also fell 13 percent after the company said it would limit its capacity plans and reassess financial forecasts for this year.
Southwest said Tuesday that Boeing informed them it would take delivery of 46 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes this year, down from the 58 originally planned.
The first few months of the year have been full of scandals involving Boeing, including several frightening mid-air near-tragedies, starting with the Alaska Air incident in January, in which a panel blew off mid-flight.
On Thursday, a wheel fell off a Boeing 777-200 shortly after takeoff in San Francisco.
In January, an Alaska Airlines flight suffered a near-catastrophic disaster when an aircraft door blew out at 16,000 feet above Portland
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks to reports at the Capitol in January after the MAX 9 plane was grounded following the door incident. The company is now under criminal investigation
Share prices of the US aviation giant fell by more than 3 percent as it faces several scandals regarding its planes
The 256-pound wheel fell from a United Airlines plane shortly after takeoff and crushed cars parked below after it plummeted to the ground.
On Monday, just days before the wheel incident, a 737 engine caught fire mid-flight.
The terrifying incident occurred just minutes into a United Airlines flight bound for Fort Myers, Florida.
Video taken from a passenger window shows white-hot flashes streaming from the 737’s jet engine.
Earlier this week, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board accused Boeing of failing to provide some key information sought in its ongoing investigation into the Alaska Air cabin door.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said investigators have sought the names of the 25 people working on door stoppers at a Boeing facility in Renton, Wash., but have not received them from Boeing.
“It’s absurd that two months later we don’t have it,” Homendy said at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday.
Boeing insisted that it had initially given the NTSB some of the names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who were believed to have relevant information.
Senator Ted Cruz, the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, called it ‘completely unacceptable’ that the NTSB did not receive full cooperation from Boeing.
Homendy also confirmed that the MAX 9 door plug had moved during previous flights, citing markings on the door.