A former quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems turned whistleblower has died, according to his family and lawyers.
Joshua Dean is the second whistleblower to die in recent months.
Spirit makes the fuselage and does about 70% of the work on Boeing’s 737 planes. The two men came under surveillance after a door plug exploded on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX in mid-flight, forcing an emergency landing on January 5.
“Our hearts go out to Josh Dean’s family,” Spirit said in a statement. “This sudden loss is heartbreaking news here at Spirit and for those close to him.”
Dean, who was in his 40s, was in good health until a few weeks ago, when he started having trouble breathing, an aunt told The Seattle Times.
He tested positive for influenza B then MRSA which turned into pneumonia, his mother said on Facebook. The infection spread throughout his body, preventing his organs from functioning properly.
He had to be intubated and flown from a hospital in Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City, where he was placed on an ECMO machine, which pumps and oxygenates blood outside the body so that the heart and the lungs can rest. It is used in critical situations.
Dean died Tuesday morning. He most recently worked in quality control for Johnson Controls, his attorney said.
He had worked as a quality auditor for Spirit, but was fired in April 2023 after his complaints about improperly drilled holes on a rear pressure bulkhead of the 737 Max, which plays a critical role in maintaining cabin pressure during the theft, remained ignored by Spirit, according to a lawsuit filed by Spirit shareholders.
Attorneys Robert Turkewitz and Brian Knowles represent Dean and John Barnett, a retired Boeing employee who raised safety concerns about the company’s planes before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 9.
In a statement they said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Josh and his family. Josh’s passing is a loss to the aviation community and the traveling public. In raising serious quality and safety issues as a quality auditor at Spirit, and making his legitimate concerns public, Josh demonstrated extraordinary courage. Airlines should encourage and incentivize those who raise such concerns and not retaliate against them.
Dean, Turkewitz said, had filed a complaint against Spirit under the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR21) with the U.S. Department of Labor and was in arbitration against Spirit. It’s unclear what will happen with these cases now.
Knowles said his family can still represent him in these cases. Dean was working with his former union on the arbitration case, he said.
Turkewitz said he and Knowles represented about 10 whistleblowers from Spirit and Boeing.
Contributor: Matthew Kelly with The Eagle
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