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The Life and Untimely Death of a Boeing Whistleblower

When two different Boeing whistleblowers died earlier this year, it was difficult to avoid some dark speculations. After all, the company has been accused of being cavalier about passengers’ lives; would it consider the lives of its most steadfast critics any more valuable? As reporter Sean Flynn dug into the death of Mitch Barnett, who sounded the alarm on a series of potentially fatal flaws in the assembly process of the 787 Dreamliner, the question of foul play receded — but that didn’t mean that Boeing was off the hook. In this moving story, we see Barnett the deeply devoted family man, someone with a strong sense of right and wrong and when to speak up. No wonder he ran into trouble with his employer.

—Christopher Cox, features editor, New York

The Life and Untimely Death of a Boeing Whistleblower Before he died in March, Mitch Barnett catalogued dangerous flaws in the company’s aircraft.

Photo: Jeffrey Milstein

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