Barnett Exposes Boeing's Oxygen System Failures on 787 Dreamliner

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett raised concerns about the emergency oxygen systems on the 787 Dreamliner in 2016. As a quality manager at Boeing's North Charleston plant, he identified problems with some units and arranged further checks.

Barnett conducted a controlled test of 300 undamaged oxygen systems taken directly from stock, simulating deployment on an aircraft using the same electric current as in flight.

The results showed that 75 units failed to deploy correctly, resulting in a 25 percent failure rate. Barnett described this as a potential safety issue, given that the systems are meant to be used in emergency situations.