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>>> Boeing Whistleblower John Barnett Found Dead Amid Depositions Against Plane Company
Time
by Koh Ewe
March 12, 2024
https://www.yahoo.com/news/boeing-whistleblower-john-barnett-found-104622297.html
John Barnett was supposed to answer questions on Saturday as part of a deposition he’d been giving earlier last week related to a legal dispute with his former employer Boeing—which has been dogged by safety concerns, some of which he had raised. But he didn’t show up.
When his legal team called him repeatedly to no avail, they eventually asked the hotel he was staying at to check in on him. That’s when Barnett was found dead in his truck in the parking lot.
The Charleston County Coroner’s Office told media that Barnett died from “what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” and that the Charleston Police Department is continuing to investigate the death.
Barnett’s lawyer Brian Knowles described the discovery as “tragic” to legal newsletter Corporate Crime Reporter, which first reported on Barnett’s death. “John had been back and forth for quite some time getting prepared,” said Knowles, who told Corporate Crime Reporter that he was set to cross-examine Barnett on Saturday for what would have been “day three of his deposition here in Charleston on his AIR21 case,” referring to the shorthand for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Whistleblower Protection Program.
Barnett, who was based in Louisiana, was in South Carolina to offer evidence for legal proceedings linked to a defamation lawsuit against Boeing, which he claimed deliberately hurt his career and reputation because of allegations he’d made of grave safety breaches on the aircraft company’s production line.
“We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends,” Boeing said in a statement to TIME.
The 62-year-old, who had worked at Boeing for over three decades as a quality control engineer and manager until his retirement in 2017, has for the past few years been outspoken about his skepticism of the company’s safety standards, which have come under heightened scrutiny in recent months amid a series of high-profile malfunctions on Boeing planes.
In 2019, just months after an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 and a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX both crashed minutes after takeoff, killing everyone on board, Barnett told the BBC that workers at one Boeing factory had been deliberately fitting faulty parts to planes to meet production deadlines, and that oxygen masks on the 787 Dreamliner had a 1-in-4 chance of failing during an emergency. Barnett said he had alerted Boeing managers as well as the FAA to the concerns but that no action had been taken. Boeing denied his allegations, though it acknowledged that an inspection in 2017 found that some oxygen bottles were in fact not deploying properly.
Barnett also told the New York Times in 2019 that he was once reprimanded for documenting “process violations” via email instead of face to face, which he took to mean the company didn’t want him putting problems in writing. In a 2014 performance review seen by the Times, Barnett’s manager told him that he had to improve at “working in the gray areas and help find a way while maintaining compliance.”
In January, the plane manufacturer made headlines again when an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff in Portland after one of its emergency exit doors blew out mid-air, causing passengers’ belongings to fly out of the hole and pressure on the plane to be destabilized. While no one was seriously hurt by the blowout, much of it thanks to luck—the seats nearest to the hole were unoccupied and most passengers were strapped in their seats when it happened—three passengers on the flight are suing the airline and Boeing for $1 billion, arguing that they’ve suffered severe psychological distress due to negligence.
Alaska Airlines temporarily grounded its fleet of Boeing 737-9 planes immediately after the accident and greenlit them to fly again just weeks later. But Barnett told TMZ at the time that Boeing’s troubles weren’t isolated to one door plug—or one plane.
“This is not a 737 problem,this is a Boeing problem,” he said, adding that Boeing started removing inspection operations in 2012. “What we’re seeing with the door plug blowout is what I’ve seen with the rest of the airplane as far as jobs not being completed properly, inspection steps being removed, issues being ignored.”
Controversy surrounding the Alaska Airlines incident is still mounting, with the Wall Street Journal reporting last week that the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the case. And Boeing, which was accused of not being cooperative with federal investigators, admitted to Congress on Friday that it could not find records on the exploded door panel.
The FAA said earlier this month that a six-week audit of Boeing and subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident “found multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.”
On Monday, more than 50 passengers were injured after a LATAM Airlines Boeing 787 bound for New Zealand from Australia plummeted mid-air, throwing passengers out of their seats, in what the carrier said was a “technical event” and is now under investigation.
As its reputation has sunk, so has Boeing’s stock price—dropping by more than 26% since the start of the year, per NASDAQ.
“Once you understand what’s happening inside of Boeing, you’ll see why we’re seeing these kinds of issues,” Barnett told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in January.
<<<
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United cancels Boeing orders for Max 10s that were backlogged, switching to Max 9 and the Airbus A321 instead.
By: Markets & Mayhem | March 12, 2024
United cancels Boeing orders for Max 10s that were backlogged, switching to Max 9 and the Airbus A321 instead. https://t.co/XjhUWKQbuU pic.twitter.com/GtwSS5BieX
— Markets & Mayhem (@Mayhem4Markets) March 12, 2024
I'm sure u guys watched Sopranos, these guys took care of the RAT., a RAT is someone who SINGS. IMO
At least FTX/Sam Bankfraud Thief did not resort to a Mafia style execution, but don't worry DOJ will find out soon, look where Sam Banfraud is right now. IMO
These Boing fools are just that fools/ incompetent. IMO
Boing is the FTX/Sam Bankfraud Thief part deux. IMO
Boeing’s tumultuous year went from bad to worse on Monday after a “technical event” led a 787-9 Dreamliner to nosedive, injuring 50 people on a flight from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand.
These efers will be bankrupt soon "Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into the Jan. 5 blowout on an Alaska Airlines jet."
I knew these guys are criminals from the start of that 737 MAX fiasco, its evident now. IMO
BOEING ASSASSINATED WHISTLE BLOWER JOHN BARNETT..... HE'S ***DEAD***.... SHOT IN THE BACK OF HIS HEAD!!!!!!!! RIP John Barnett $BA https://t.co/NRFc6ud0K4
At least 50 hurt as LATAM's Boeing 787 to Auckland 'just dropped' mid-flight
Reuters) -At least 50 people were hurt when a Boeing 787 operated by LATAM Airlines dropped abruptly mid-flight from Sydney to Auckland on Monday, according to the airline and a New Zealand health service organisation that treated the injured.
The aircraft experienced a strong shake and as a result, 10 passengers and three cabin crew members were taken to a hospital, the South American carrier said as it investigates the cause.
The flight with 263 passengers and nine cabin crew members landed at Auckland airport as scheduled on Monday afternoon.
One person is in a serious condition while the rest suffered mild-to-moderate injuries, a spokesperson for Hato Hone St John, which treated roughly 50 people at the airport, said.
"The plane, unannounced, just dropped. I mean it dropped unlike anything I've ever experienced on any kind of minor turbulence, and people were thrown out of their seats, hit the top of the roof of the plane, throwing down the aisles," passenger Brian Jokat told the BBC.
The cause of the apparent sudden change in trajectory of LATAM 800 could not be ascertained immediately. Safety experts say most airplane accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors that need to be thoroughly investigated.
"Some of the roof panels were broken from people being thrown up and knocking through the plastic roof panels in the aisle ways. And there was blood coming from several people's heads." Jokat, who was not injured in the incident, said.
He said passengers who were doctors on the plane provided bandages and neck braces for people who were severely injured.
Boeing said it was working to gather more information and will provide any support to the airline.
Boeing shares closed down about 3%, after the latest incident involving one of its aircraft. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in January barred the troubled planemaker from expanding production of its best-selling 737 MAX narrowbody planes, following "unacceptable" quality issues.
The head of the FAA, Mike Whitaker, said the agency will work with Australian authorities or the New Zealand authorities to investigate.
The U.S. National Safety Board said it did not yet have anything official on the incident.
The eight-year-old Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, was on its way to Santiago via Auckland. LATAM Airlines said a new flight to Chile will depart from Auckland on Tuesday.
In 2008, dozens of people were injured when another wide-body jet, an Airbus 330 operated by Qantas Airways, dropped sharply because of faulty readings from a flight data computer while heading for Perth in Australia.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/at-least-50-hurt-as-latams-boeing-787-to-auckland-just-dropped-mid-flight/ar-BB1jIL9o
The string of incidents this past week reflect on United Airline's maintenance and operations more than they reflect on Boeing.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/united-faces-more-emergency-landings-as-flights-suffer-hydraulic-maintenance-issues/ar-BB1jCgn6
Boeing (BA) Stock Sinks Amid Investigation, Technical Issue
By: Schaeffer's Investment Research | March 11, 2024
• U.S. Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation
• Options bears are targeting BA in response
The shares of Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) are sliding, after news that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is opening a criminal investigation into January's infamous Alaska Airlines (ALK) flight, in which a section of a Boeing 737 MAX jet blew out mid-flight. Furthermore, in a newly developing story, at least 50 people were injured aboard a LATAM flight from Sydney to Auckland due to a technical issue that caused the Boeing 787-9 aircraft to quickly lose altitude.
BA last seen down 2.5% at $193.50, trading at its lowest levels since November. Since the start of the year, the equity is down 25.6%, with pressure at its 20-day moving average helping to guide the shares lower.
Over in the options pits, 22,000 calls and 41,000 puts have been exchanged so far today -- volume that is triple the amount typically seen at this point. The March 190 put is the most popular by far, with new positions being opened there.
Over the past 10 weeks, though calls have still won out on an absolute basis, puts have been picked up at a much faster-than-usual rate. This is per BA's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.85 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX).
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Advantage of flying more exciting Boeing planes. Pilots are less likely to fall asleep.
"Indonesia To Open Probe After (both) Airline Pilots Fell Asleep Mid-flight"
https://www.barrons.com/news/indonesia-to-open-probe-after-airline-pilots-fell-asleep-mid-flight-db231ef7
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13173735/alaska-airlines-portland-international-airport-open-cargo-door-concern.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13174293/United-Boeing-737-Max-Houston-runway-grass.html
The wheels are starting to come off Boeing:
https://www.flyingmag.com/faa-probe-underway-after-boeing-777-drops-wheel-following-takeoff/
While the headline touts the Boeing order, the order book includes an equal amount of Airbus, and an even larger number of Embraer aircraft:
https://airlinegeeks.com/2024/03/04/american-bets-on-737-max-with-new-order/
Yes, Buffett has been talking constantly about stock market gambling. My own blue chips and index funds are hitting record highs almost every day, and paying rising dividends except for one. LOL. I invest in stocks; I don't bet on them.
I've never bought an option or written one.
"I never play options"
Well, I certainly would never buy an option on the day it's going to expire. But these "0DTE" traders are kind of a brand new phenomenon. Five years ago, out of the money (OTM) options would have almost no value or trading volume the last few days of their existence. But now gamblers (and that's exactly what they are - gamblers) are playing in them big time.
There has even been some talk that the CBOE's volatility index (the VIX) might be becoming obsolete as it is calculated using S&P implied volatility of OTM options around 30 days out. I tool a quick look, and Boeing's first OTM put (the $200 expiring today) has traded at 422 times the volume of the same put expiring April 5th.
That's just nuts.
Writing OTM 0DTE options is like walking down the sidewalk and picking money up off the ground - It ain't a whole lot, but it's easy to make!
"Boeing executives have said privately that fixing up Spirit as a separate entity has proven tough."
Should be interesting to learn more about Spirit's problems when the truth comes out in the distant future. I never play options and I only own a small number of BA shares.
I don't think it would be wise to dump BA to buy SPR right now.
The implied volatility in today's expiring BA options went absolutely bananas when that news broke. I sold both puts and calls way out of the money in BA when that news broke, and they all are already at no-bid or have a zero to the right of the decimal.
SPR shares up 15%. So Spirit may benefit from their shoddy work!
"When asked about Boeing’s outsourcing strategy, Calhoun recently told CNBC, “did it go too far? Yeah, it probably did. But now it’s here and now, I’ve got to deal with it.”
A deal would be a strategic reversal. Boeing sold the Wichita plant in a push to focus on final assembly. In recent years, that facility has been plagued by production problems and quality lapses that have slowed production and left the plane maker short of jets it promised to deliver to airlines.
Spirit has struggled financially for years. Last year it secured a $100 million cash infusion from Boeing as part of a deal aimed at stabilizing operations. It has been in negotiations for months with Airbus over a commercial agreement, with the two sides so far unable to reach a deal.
In February, Spirit said it was withholding financial guidance for the year until it has clarity on Boeing’s effort to get approval from regulators to ramp up 737 MAX production, which U.S. regulators capped following the Alaska Air incident.
Acquiring Spirit would leave Boeing’s brass with the task of cleaning up its operations at the same time that Boeing’s own quality-control systems have been questioned by regulators. The Federal Aviation Administration has given Boeing 90 days from this week to come up with a quality-improvement plan.
Boeing executives have said privately that fixing up Spirit as a separate entity has proven tough."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/boeing-in-talks-to-buy-troubled-supplier-spirit-aerosystems/
Interesting about Spirit. Also I can say that Boeing is still giving raises and even bonuses. Of course with the current tight labor situation they don't have much choice.
History repeats itself?
Boeing to buy Spirit Aero back? They originally acquired it as Stearman and then spun it off as Spirit Aero.
Boeing in talks to buy Spirit
Boeing $BA was just awarded a $3.4 Billion contract with the 🇺🇸 Navy for 17 P-8A Poseidon aircraft
By: Evan | March 1, 2024
Boeing $BA was just awarded a $3.4 Billion contract with the 🇺🇸 Navy for 17 P-8A Poseidon aircraft pic.twitter.com/HFIKdvKlHt
— Evan (@StockMKTNewz) February 29, 2024
Boeing $BA 03/15/24 $202.50 CALLS starting to add up
By: Flowrensics | February 22, 2024
• $BA 03/15/24 $202.50 CALLS starting to add up
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Boeing orders, deliveries dry up in January as plane-maker grapples with latest Max crisis
Published Tue, Feb 13 202410:30 AM EST 15 Min Ago
Key Points
Boeing delivered 27 planes in January, down from 67 in December and its lowest tally since September.
It sold three Boeing 737 Max planes, but also logged three cancellations.
Boeing executives have been scrambling to persuade airline customers, investors and regulators that it will find more reliable footing after a Jan. 5 incident on an Alaska Airlines flight.
Boeing
’s aircraft orders and deliveries fell in January as the company grappled with the fallout from a midflight blowout of a fuselage panel on one of its 737 Max 9s, an accident that overshadowed the manufacturer’s strong finish in 2023.
The company handed over 27 planes last month, its lowest tally since September, compared with 67 deliveries in December. It sold three Boeing 737 Max planes, but also logged three cancellations.
The deliveries were roughly in line with what some analysts expected. The three gross orders come after a big December when Boeing sold 371 planes.
Boeing rival Airbus handed over 30 planes in January.
Boeing executives have been scrambling to persuade airline customers, investors and regulators that it will find more reliable footing after the Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines
flight at 16,000 feet shortly after it left Portland, Oregon. No one was seriously injured on Flight 1282, but the violent detachment ripped off headrests and exposed travelers to a gaping hole in the 26th row.
Bolts that hold the unused exit door panel in place appeared to be missing from the fuselage piece, which had been removed and put back at Boeing’s 737 Max factory in Renton, Washington, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Feb. 6.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has vowed to review manufacturing processes at the company’s facilities. The Federal Aviation Administration said it would halt Boeing’s planned production increases until it is “satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.”
“I’m sort of glad they called out a pause because that’s a good excuse to just take our time, do it right,” Calhoun said on an earnings call Jan. 31.
The FAA is auditing Boeing’s production, and the agency’s administrator, Mike Whitaker, told CNBC last month that it will keep “boots on the ground” at Boeing and perform direct inspections of work there.
Whitaker is traveling to the Renton plant this week.
Boeing’s January deliveries included three Max planes to Chinese customers, the first in about four years.
Faulty door panel on Alaska Airlines flight had no bolts installed, NTSB says in preliminary report
The door panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 that fell off midair had no bolts installed on the door plug, according to preliminary findings released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
A picture of the plane in a factory in Renton, Washington, revealed the lack of bolts, the NTSB said.
"Photo documentation obtained from Boeing shows evidence of the left-hand MED plug closed with no retention hardware (bolts) in the three visible locations," the report said, using an acronym for the middle exit door.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna136416
Well, that was an amazing earnings report.
No more negative news for a few weeks, and we just might have a chance to shine, Boeing !
$$ BA $$
Today Boeing Company (BA) is the best performer in the DJIA
By: Thom Hartle | January 31, 2024
• Today (8:32 CST), the best performer in the DJIA is Boeing Company. BA.
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Evidence from the door that blew off an Alaska Airlines plane is bolstering a theory that the emergency occurred because bolts required to secure the door were missing when the aircraft left Boeing’s factory, according to The Wall Street Journal. The so-called door plug on the 737 Max 9 aircraft blew out at around 16,000 feet during the flight on Jan. 5 and was later discovered in a teacher’s backyard. Now Boeing and other industry officials “increasingly believe” that the aircraft manufacturer’s workers did not put bolts back in place when they reinstalled the door after removing it or opening it during the production, sources told the Journal. The conclusion is partly based on an apparent lack of markings on the door that would indicate the bolts were in place at the time it blew off, according to the report.
Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts……we got screwed……lol.
These dang Machinists make WAY too much money to be continually stupid…..and are they really shaggy in appearance or is it just me.
And upper management, of course, continues to underperform.
But I DO hope they continue to fund the Champions Tour golf tournament at Snoqualmie Ridge, and keep their fancy Corporate Tent. That’s always a party.
$$ BA $$
It's beginning to look like the retaining bolts which prevent up/down movement of the door plug weren't just loose, but were never re-installed at all by Boeing after the door was opened during production at the Renton facility. That reflects extremely poorly, not only on line workers, but on required items inspection processes.
And the lapses in the paperwork is a poor reflection on the FAA itself.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/alaska-airlines-plane-may-have-left-boeing-factory-without-bolts-secure-door-plug-report
Most BA planes back in the air again, so safe enough
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/latest-737-max-accident-shows-boeing-has-not-learned-its-lesson-opinion/ar-BB1hj6N7?cvid=40ed14b532154eec82786b43ae243ceb&ei=2
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/boeing-s-tragedy-inside-the-fall-of-an-american-manufacturing-icon/ar-BB1hlwZj?cvid=979768965f284243bebf749b5168644f&ei=33
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/aviation-legend-bob-crandall-only-boeing-workers-know-what-needs-to-be-fixed/vi-BB1hjXz3?cvid=aec61097bbc048c38ba1501159e6b8cf&ei=14
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/airlines-sharpen-boeing-criticism-expect-aircraft-delivery-delays/ar-BB1hjVav?cvid=890c5ae7f52d4361af1a94bc307cc653&ei=5
Are we finally in an upwards trend ??
📈 let’s get the Max’s flying, and no more stupid “lapsus memorae”…….lol.
I’m in for a bunch of February 9th, $205 calls.
Surprise me Boeing, and start having a few good weeks with proper inspections and good results.
(I won’t hold you responsible for the stupid wheel falling off……lol.)
$$ BA $$
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/other/boeing-needs-to-get-their-act-together-american-airlines-ceo-says/ar-BB1hg2aR
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/cantwell-plans-hearings-to-investigate-boeing-737-max-9-blowout/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/boeing-s-situation-not-tenable-bank-of-america-says-in-downgrade/ar-BB1hfo4v
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/faa-limits-boeing-737-max-production-as-probe-continues/ar-BB1hfI1k
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/boeing-s-stock-sinks-after-faa-halts-production-ramp-of-737-max-9-jets/ar-BB1hdtgV
This really sucks, because Boeing has been a symbol for the USA's heavy manufacturing capability and quality. It has been a national treasure and a major source of export income, which the USA sorely needs. Plus, although I like its planes, I hate Airbus and its pompous You're-a-Peon management.
In less than thee decades, Boeing has pist away its reputation and its lead. It is nott just sadd, it is a national tragedy.
Motto change:
old: "If it's not Boeing, I'm not going."
new: "If it's Boeing, I'm not going."
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