Boeing Whistleblower's Tragic Death Explored in New Netflix Documentary

A new Netflix documentary explores the story of John Barnett, a whistleblower who died by suicide in 2024 after providing deposition materials for his case against Boeing. The documentary, 'Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing,' is directed by Oscar-nominee Rory Kennedy and serves as a follow-up to her 2022 investigative look at the crashes of two brand-new Boeing aircrafts.

Barnett's death sparked conspiracy theories, but the documentary instead focuses on his career as a quality manager at Boeing. Interviews with Barnett and other quality experts who worked for the company reveal incidents that displayed a lack of safety and quality control at Boeing. The whistleblowers faced pushback or threats of retaliation when reporting these issues to management.

The documentary also features interviews with Naoise Ryan, the widow of Mick Ryan, one of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crash. Ryan worked alongside other family members of the crash victims to bring Boeing to justice for its safety issues.