In a shocking development, Joshua Dean, famous for being a Boeing whistleblower died at the age of 45. Joshua Dean's death is second in terms of whistleblower. In a separate case, two months before, another Boeing whistleblower John Barnett died as well. For the unversed, Joshua Dean was an ex-employee of Spirit AeroSystems, an aircraft manufacturer that produces crucial components, such as the fuselage for Boeing. As per Joshua, he was fired in retaliation for pointing out the company's inadequate standards at its manufacturing facility in Wichita, Kansas. Joshua Dean, who was one of the first whistleblowers to raise concerns over the flaws in the manufacturing of the 737 MAX planes. Now, the question arises what happened to Joshua Dean or what is Joshua Dean's death reason? Below is what we know so far-
What happened to Joshua Dean?
As per US media reports, Joshua Dean fell sick just over two weeks ago with breathing difficulties. Despite aggressive medical intervention, including an ECMO machine, Dean struggled for a few days before dying. Dean's aunt Carol Parsons was quoted by US media portal saying that Joshua Dean went to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing just over two weeks ago. Soon after, he was intubated and developed pneumonia. Later, he suffered a serious bacterial infection, MRSA. As his condition continued to deteriorate, Boeing whistleblower Joshua was airlifted from Wichita to a hospital based in Oklahoma City where he was put on an ECMO machine. Joshua Dean was heavily sedated and put on dialysis, while a CT scan indicated that he suffered a stroke. Finally, Joshua died a few days later.
A resident of Wichita, Kansas, Joshua Dean started working at Spirit in 2019 after completing his graduation in mechanical engineering. However, he lost his job in 2020 due to COVID-related layoffs. Luckily, he got back his job the following year as Spirit hired him as a quality auditor.
Talking about his whistleblowing, Joshua Dean claimed to have found a significant production flaw in Spirit-built 737 MAX parts during an examination in 2022. He even brought up the issue with the highest levels of management, however, alleged that nobody paid attention to the problem. As a result, Joshua was fired in April 2023 on the accusation of failing to identify another issue that resulted in a delivery halt for the company.
Interestingly, a few months later Spirit discovered a significant problem with the way 737 MAXs were manufactured. This was the same issue that Joshua had originally brought to the firm's attention. As a result, Joshua filed a case against them in multiple courts including his wrongful termination.