A whistleblower who was at warfare with Boeing died final week — and investigators say it seems he took his personal life, this whereas he was embroiled in a lawsuit towards the corporate.

John Barnett was found useless on Saturday out in Charleston, SC — the place cops say his physique was present in his truck in a resort car parking zone … with him struggling an obvious self-inflicted gunshot wound. No phrase on if foul play is suspected — however police are investigating.

Barnett’s legal professional, Brian Knowles, referred to as the passing of his consumer “tragic” … and went on to precise express doubt concerning the circumstances of his loss of life, ensuring to name the self-inflicted gunshot wound cops are citing as “alleged.”

What’s extra startling is Barnett was actually within the midst of a whistleblower lawsuit towards Boeing — his former employer of 32 years — as he was alleging retaliation for sounding the alarm on what he characterised as chopping corners on meeting strains for his or her planes.

This can be a drum Barnett had been beating for a very long time — and he even got here on “TMZ Stay” lately to deal with points that Boeing’s 737 Max plane had been experiencing these days.

In fact, the one incident that involves thoughts is a door blowing off a 737 flight mid-air in January … which left the passengers clinging to expensive life because the aircraft tried to land safely.

Barnett — a former high quality supervisor at Boeing — spoke with us and stated he wasn’t stunned by the mishap … alleging he’d seen Boeing flip a blind eye to security considerations for years. He additionally instructed us that Boeing’s 737 Max plane being given the inexperienced mild to fly once more so quickly after the Alaska Airways incident was alarming … suggesting it’d’ve been unsafe.

Quick-forward to final week … when Barnett was in the midst of depositions in his case towards Boeing. The corporate launched a press release and stated it was saddened by his loss of life.

He was 62.

RIP