Joshua Dean, a 45-year-old former mechanical engineer for Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, died from a “sudden, fast-spreading infection” on Tuesday morning, just over a year after he blew the whistle on the aircraft manufacturer for ignoring safety defects on its 737 MAX jets.
First reported by the Seattle Times, Dean—who up until recently was a perfectly healthy middle-aged man known to keep an active and fit lifestyle—was hospitalized two weeks ago after reporting difficulty breathing. Soon after arriving at the hospital, he was transferred to the intensive care unit and intubated, but then developed pneumonia and MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria commonly found in hospital patients treated with unwashed hands or dirty equipment. Both conditions compounded his breathing difficulties.
Dean’s aunt, Carol Parsons, said that his condition became so severe that he needed to be airlifted from Wichita to another hospital in Oklahoma City, where he was placed on an ECMO machine that kept his heart and lungs functioning. Doctors were discussing amputating his arms and legs to fight the infection, but Dean ultimately succumbed to the illness before further medical action could be taken.
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Dean, who worked as a quality auditor for Spirit AeroSystems, was reportedly fired by the company in April 2023, at which point he filed a complaint with the Department of Labor alleging that the termination was an act of retaliation for voicing concerns over aircraft safety. In 2022, Dean claimed to have notified his managers about multiple serious manufacturing defects, including “mechanics improperly drilling holes in the aft pressure bulkhead of the MAX.” After company officials failed to take action, Dean notified the Federal Aviation Administration and said that Spirit was scapegoating him and lying to the agency about the defects.
“After I was fired, Spirit AeroSystems [initially] did nothing to inform the FAA and the public,” Dean said in his complaint. He also gave a deposition during a Spirit shareholder lawsuit, in which it was claimed that “Spirit management withheld information on the quality flaws and harmed stockholders.”
Spirit AeroSystems (unaffiliated with the airline by the same name), manufactured the door plug that failed on a Boeing 737 MAX jet in January, leading to a nearly catastrophic midair blowout. An ensuing investigation found missing bolts and “mis-drilled holes” in the fuselage, which were traced back to Spirit. This brought new attention to Dean’s allegations.
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Prior to his death, Dean was being represented by the same South Carolina law firm that represented fellow whistleblower John Barnett, a quality manager for Boeing who reported similar production defects at a separate facility. In March, just after giving a two-day deposition against Boeing, Barnett was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The investigation into his death is still ongoing.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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