"The Charleston County Coroner, Bobbi Jo O’Neal, is releasing the name of John Barnett, a 62-year-old male from Louisiana," the release said on Monday. "Mr. Barnett died on March 9, 2024, from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
The Charleston City Police Department is investigating Barnett's death, no further details are available at this time, the release noted.
Barnett was recently cross-examined by Boeing's lawyers and his own attorney, and he was scheduled to answer more questions this past Saturday but failed to appear, media reported.
Barnett, who worked at Boeing for over three decades before retiring in 2017, accused the company of cutting corners in order to get its 787 Dreamliner jets out of production quickly at the North Charleston plant, compromising the safety of the aircraft.
According to Barnett, the emergency oxygen systems on 787 Dreamliners had a failure rate of 25%, meaning that a quarter of 787 Dreamliners were at risk of rapidly losing oxygen and suffocating the passengers if the cabins were suddenly decompressed. A federal investigation confirmed some of Barnett's allegations.