Boeing whistleblower nicknamed 'showstopper' for constantly halting production over safety claims he was pressured into hiding defects - as he bravely speaks out after two former quality mangers wound up dead

A new Boeing whistleblower has bravely spoken in public about problems he noticed while working for a supplier of the airplane manufacturing giant after two former quality managers wound up dead. 

Boeing has had a torrid start to 2024 including two whistleblowers who were raising issues about the company dying suddenly. 

The first of those, John Barnett, took his own life just days after testifying against the aircraft giant, while Joshua Dean died in hospital on Tuesday after a sudden illness following his firing from Spirit AeroSystems in April 2023 and subsequent claims that 'if you are too loud, [Boeing] will silence you.'

Santiago Paredes, who also worked for Spirit AeroSystems - where the troubled 737 Max is built - at their factory in Kansas, is the latest to speak out, saying he was asked to hide defects on 737 fuselages. 

'If quality mattered, I would still be at Spirit,' he said. 'It was very rare for us to look at a job and not find any defects.'

Santiago Paredes, who worked for Spirit AeroSystems - where the troubled 737 Max is built - at their factory in Kansas, is the latest to speak out, saying he was asked to hide defects on 737 fuselages

Joshua Dean died in hospital on Tuesday after a sudden illness following his firing from Spirit AeroSystems in April 2023

He said that he even found a problem with an aircraft door panel that replicated one that flew off during a January flight by Alaska Airlines. 

'Why'd that happen? Because Spirit let go of a defect that they overlooked because of the pressure that they put on the inspectors,' Paredes told CBS News.

Paredes said he was known as the 'Showstopper,' because his continued insistence on pointing out defects delayed deliveries and that he was constantly pressured to keep his reports to a minimum. 

'If the culture was good, those issues would be addressed, but the culture is not good.' 

Boeing has given Alaska Airlines $61million in supplier credit memos for the disaster which temporarily grounded the fleet of 737 MAX 9 jets. 

Paredes left the company midway through 2022 after the company had changed his entire outlook on air travel.

'Working at Spirit, I almost grew a fear of flying,' said Paredes. 'Knowing what I know about the 737, it makes me very uncomfortable when I fly on one of them.' 

Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino said that their company is supportive of whistleblowers like Paredes. 

John Barnett, took his own life just days after testifying against the aircraft giant

Joshua Dean died in hospital on Tuesday after a sudden illness following his firing from Spirit AeroSystems in April 2023 and subsequent claims that 'if you are too loud, [Boeing] will silence you'

Boeing engineer, Sam Salehpour testifies before the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations during a hearing on 'Examining Boeing's Broken Safety Culture: Firsthand Accounts,' at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 17

'We encourage all Spirit employees with concerns to come forward, safe in knowing they will be protected,' he said. 

'We remain committed to addressing concerns and continuously improving workplace safety standards.'

However, Paredes was more critical of Boeing, which he said has been ignoring problems at Spirit for years.  

'It's a recipe for disaster,' he said. 'I said it was just a matter of time before something bad happened. ' 

He added that being the 'Showstopper' went against what he felt the ultimate goal of Boeing and Spirit was.

Paredes - an Air Force veteran who ended up working 12 years at Spirit - said that things got worse as his time went on, as in 2018 Spirit increased production. 

'They always said they didn't have time to fix the mistakes,' said Paredes. 'They needed to get the planes out.' 

In February of 2022, his bosses asked him to do his inspections faster and become less specific about the defaults, which Paredes described as 'unethical.'

Paredes said that even found a problem with an aircraft door panel that replicated one that flew off during a January flight by Alaska Airlines

Paredes worked for Spirit AeroSystems - where the troubled 737 Max is built - at their factory in Kansas 

'I was put in a place where I had, if I say, no, I was gonna get fired,' Paredes recalled. 'If I say yes, I was admitting that I was gonna do something wrong.' 

That very summer, he quit after temporarily losing his leadership, which he got back after filing an HR ethics complaint that determined he was improperly demoted. 

'It takes a toll on you and I was tired of fighting,' said Paredes. 'I was tired of trying to do the right thing.'

Paredes now works for a different Boeing supplier, but he was cited as 'Former Employee 1' in a shareholder lawsuit against Spirit after he blew the whistle. 

Buccino says Paredes' allegation are 'unfounded' and the company has asked a judge to dismiss the suit.

Brian Knowles and Robert Turkewitz, Paredes' lawyers who are working with 10 other current and former Boeing and Spirit workers who have blown the whistle, applauded his courage. 

'Santiago Paredes is one of these brave whistleblowers who chose to come forward and speak publicly. His powerful story points to the need for accountability and responsibility in the aviation industry,' they said. 

'It is time for profits over safety, quality, and people to come to an end. Actions speak louder than words.'

Dozens of grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are seen parked in an aerial photo at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, U.S. July 1, 2019. Picture taken July 1, 2019

There were no serious injuries from the terrifying Alaska Airlines failure, but passenger's belongings including phones flew out of the aircraft

Paredes says that he's not worried about the repercussions in the wake of the two former employees' deaths. 

'In a way I think before, if something happens to me, I'd rather them hear it from me than not hear it at all,' he said. 

'My cry out is not a cry out to get somebody in trouble. My cry out is to highlight the defects that they well known are in their factory, but they need to fix them. So their business can be successful.'

The past year for Boeing has seen consistently damning allegations and behavior at the corporate level.

Boeing's 737 Max program chief, Ed Clark, was reportedly fired in February in a structural shakeup at the company.

Clark was also general manager at the company's Renton, Washington, facility and had been at Boeing for 18 years. 

He was replaced by Katie Ringgold, while a 'senior vice president of quality' role was created too. 

In March, Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, 62 - a former quality control manager and employee of 32 years - was found dead in his truck outside a South Carolina hotel days after testifying against the company in a lawsuit.

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was found dead in his truck outside a South Carolina hotel days after testifying against his former employer

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks briefly with reporters after a meeting in the office of Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., at the Capitol. Calhoun will step down at the end of the year from the top job at the planemaker

The coroner put it down to a 'self-inflicted' gunshot wound in the head, though the police confirmed that they would investigate further.

Barnett had made a string of complaints to his higher-ups in his time as a quality control manager before leaving the company on health grounds in 2017.

In January 2024, he appeared on TMZ to say that the 737 Max 9 aircraft were being launched back into the air too soon in the wake of the accident, suggesting corners had been cut.

The news came three days after he head of the National Transportation Safety Board accused Boeing of 'not cooperating' with its investigation into the January incident. 

Several other incidents with Boeing parts occurred throughout February and March.

In April, another whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, came forward to Boeing of taking shortcuts when building its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets and added that the company had retaliated against him when he raised concerns. 

He doubled down on the claims a week later, adding on NBC that 787s should be grounded fearing 'fatal flaws' which could case them to fall apart mid-air.

In a 1,500 word statement, Boeing said it was 'fully confident' in the 787 and called concerns about structural integrity 'inaccurate.'

Boeing has had a torrid 2024 starting with a door plug blowing out on an Alaska Airlines flight in early January (stock image above)

A Boeing 737 MAX airplane lands after a test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, U.S. June 29, 2020 

Later that month, United Airlines indicated it will reduce reliance on Boeing after announcing a $124m loss in the first quarter of 2024, which it blamed on the scandal-laden manufacturer. 

On April 30, a second whistleblower, Joshua Dean, died suddenly aged 45 having raised the alarm about supposed defects in 737 Max jets.

The former Spirit employee previously said he was fired from his quality auditing role for questioning standards at the supplier's plant in Wichita, Kansas, in October 2022.

His family said on social media that Dean died in hospital after a sudden illness. 

Earlier in 2024, Dean spoke with NPR about being fired. 'I think they were sending out a message to anybody else. If you are too loud, we will silence you,' he said. 

On Monday, the FAA announced a new safety investigation into beleaguered jet maker Boeing. 

The Wall Street Journal reports the target of the investigation is whether Boeing fulfilled safety inspection requirements on all of its troublesome 787 jets.

Regulators are saying that Boeing disclosed to them that their employees may have skipped some inspections on 787 Dreamliner planes. 

The FAA added that it was investigating 'whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records.'