This article makes clear how Mr. Barnett called on Boeing on numerous dangerous practices, which Boeing fully denied. But it seems the FAA was able to confirm at least some of Mr. Barnett's testimony.

Here follow some notable parts:

He later told the BBC that workers had failed to follow procedures intended to track components through the factory, allowing defective components to go missing.

He said in some cases, sub-standard parts had even been removed from scrap bins and fitted to planes that were being built to prevent delays on the production line.

He also claimed that tests on emergency oxygen systems due to be fitted to the 787 showed a failure rate of 25%, meaning that one in four could fail to deploy in a real-life emergency.

Mr Barnett said he had alerted managers to his concerns, but no action had been taken.

Boeing denied his assertions. However, a 2017 review by the US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), did uphold some of Mr Barnett's concerns.

It established that the location of at least 53 "non-conforming" parts in the factory was unknown, and that they were considered lost. Boeing was ordered to take remedial action.

I wonder what the results were for the remedial actions imposed on Boeing in 2017. Were they able to account for the lost parts, particularly in light of Mr. Barnett's claims of garbage parts being used from the garbage bins?

Sounds like a particular corporation is being scummy.

His death comes at a time when production standards at both Boeing and its key supplier Spirit Aerosystems are under intense scrutiny.

Gosh, this is convenient for Boeing and Spirit. Very, very convenient.

And it's clear the FAA is pissed:

A preliminary report from the US National Transportation Safety Board suggested that four key bolts, designed to hold the door securely in place, were not fitted.

Last week, the FAA said a six-week audit of the company had found "multiple instances where the company allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements".

Returning to the top of the article, we see the use of quotes around "self-inflicted":

Boeing said it was saddened to hear of Mr Barnett's passing. The Charleston County coroner confirmed his death to the BBC on Monday.

It said the 62-year-old had died from a "self-inflicted" wound on 9 March and police were investigating.

Yeah, the quotes look very appropriate to me.

Rest in Power, Mr. Barnett. I'm truly sorry for you and your family.

[–] BassTurd@lemmy.world 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I work in an machine shop that manufacturers aerospace parts, fortunately, nothing for Boeing, at least life critical. The remedial action was probably a corrective action, which means a response to how the problem occurred and how it has been remediated to not happen again. At my level, which is a couple of tiers down from Boeing in the manufacturing process, that's what would be required of us in that situation. The new public pressure may raise the consequences though of the bag holders though.

[–] PsychedSy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Yeah, most of those parts probably ended up in the trash, but I'm sure some got used. For them to realize they were missing they had to already be in the quality system but not marked as scrapped/destroyed. I know our scrap bins are locked here.

At the job shop I worked at we were pretty severe about properly documenting scrap and performing MRB actions. At a tier 1, though, not everyone is as important to the quality system or knows much about how it works. Jobs are so specific sometimes and they keep them busy. It only takes one dishonest or highly regarded individual to do something stupid.

I'm lucky I had my job shop experience because I had to learn directly from specs instead of having some distilled down or ojt training.

[–] emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 10 points 8 months ago

"Self-inflicted" as in, if he hadn't talked to the regulators, the wound wouldn't have occured.