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Boeing Aircraft Whistleblower Found Dead at Age 45 · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at a major Boeing supplier, passed away
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  after bringing attention to incorrectly drilled holes in the fuselage of seven hundred thirty seven
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  Max aircraft. Dean, aged forty five, succumbed on Tuesday morning, as
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  confirmed by his family on social media. His family revealed to NPR on Thursday
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  that Dean's health rapidly deteriorated following a diagnosis of mrrsa bacterial infection. He was
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  airlifted from a hospital in Wichita, Khan to another facility in Oklahoma City,
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  but medical teams were unable to save his life. According to The Seattle Times,
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  which was the first to report his death, he passed away yesterday morning
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  and his absence will be deeply felt. We will always love you, josh
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  Dean's aunt, Carol Dean Parsons said via Facebook. Dean raised quality issues in
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  manufacturing seven hundred thirty seven Max. Dean was among the initial individuals to identify
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  possible hazardous flaws in seven hundred thirty seven Max aircraft at Spirit Aero Systems,
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  a significant supplier to Boeing that became independent from the aircraft manufacturer in two thousand
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  and five. Presently, federal investigators are intensifying their scrutiny of both Spirit and
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  Boeing to ascertain the root cause of the door panel detachment incident on an Alaska
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  Airline's Boeing seven hundred thirty seven Max nine during flight in January. This incident
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  marks the most recent development in the complex and problematic history shared between the two
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  corporations. Our thoughts are with Josh Dean's family. This sudden loss is stunning
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  news here and for his loved ones, said Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino in a
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  statement. Dean is the second individual who blew the whistle on Boeing related matters
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  to pass away within the last three months. In March, a sixty two
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  year old man named John Barnett died in Charleston, South Carolina, reportedly due
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  to a self inflicted gunshot wound, as stated by the local coroner. During
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  that period, Barnett had been providing testimony in his lawsuit against Boeing for retaliation.
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  The police in Charleston are currently conducting an ongoing investigation into his death.
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  Dean and Barnett were both represented by lawyer Brian Knowles. Josh's passing as a
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  loss to the aviation community and the flying public. Knowles said in a statement,
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  he possessed tremendous courage to stand up for what he felt was true and
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  right and raised quality and safety issues. Aviation companies should encourage and incentivize those
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  that do raise these concerns. Dean rapidly went from healthy to be a hospitalized.
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  Dean's mother and stepfather describe him as a studious and honest man, a
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  health nut who rarely drank and attended church regularly. His career was helped by
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  his prodigious memory and attention to detail. They said. He was just amazing,
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  said Win Weir, Dean's stepfather. He could read something and then he
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  could just tell you word for word what he read days later. Dean started
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  feeling sick around two weeks ago. His mother, Virginia Green, told NPR.
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  He stayed home from work for a couple days, but things got worse.
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  Sunday, April twenty first is when I got a call from him that
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  he was really sick and having trouble breathing, Green said. Said he went
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  to an immediate care and they told him he had strep throat. Green went
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  to check on her son at his home, telling him to call her if
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  he felt worse. He did call me a couple hours later, told me
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  he was in the emergency room, she said, and he was scared.
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  They found something on his lungs. He tested positive for influenza B. He
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  tested positive for MRSA. He had pneumonia. His lungs were completely filled up,
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  and from there he just went downhill. Dean and his family were taken
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  aback by the unexpected turn of events. Green affirms that Dean was in excellent
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  health, regularly visiting the gym, engaging in daily runs, and maintaining a
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  meticulous diet. This was his first time ever in a hospital. She said
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  he didn't even have a doctor because he never was sick. However, shortly
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  after, Dean's kidneys failed and he became dependent on an Echimo life support device
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  to perform the functions of his heart and lungs. On the eve of Dean's
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  passing, Green mentioned that the healthcare professionals in Oklahoma conducted a bronchoscopy on his
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  lungs. The doctor said he'd never seen anything like it before in his life.
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  His lungs were just totally gummed up. And like a mesh over them.
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  Green says she has asked for an autopsy to determine exactly what killed her
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  son. Results will likely take months. She said, We're not sure what
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  he died of. She said, we know that he had a bunch of
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  viruses, but you know, we don't know if somebody did something to him
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  or did he just get real sick. Dean alleged that quality control systems were
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  flawed. Dean pursued a career in the commercial aviation sector. Just like his
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  father and grandfather. He held various positions at the same factory in Wichita,
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  where both his predecessors had been employed. Upon completing his engineering degree, Dean
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  joined Spirit in twenty nineteen. Unfortunately, he faced the unfortunate consequence of being
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  laid off amidst the widespread job CoA