Ralph hears from courageous former Boeing Quality Control Manager, John M. Barnett, who blew the whistle on shoddy production of the 787 Dreamliner, how the FAA has backed off on oversight, and how Boeing “bean counters” have put profits over safety.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner: “Hundreds of Defective Parts”
Ralph Nader Radio Hour
Ralph Nader
4.8 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 November 2019
⏱️ 80 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
John M. Barnett was a Quality Control Manager for Boeing Company for 25 years in its Seattle facility. He transferred in 2011 to manage Boeing’s new plant in South Carolina to build the 787 Dreamliner where he revealed shoddy production as reported on the front-page of the April 20, 2019, New York Times. He retired under pressure in 2017 and assumed the challenge to inform the flying public. His whistleblower complaint to OSHA is pending.
“I haven’t seen a plane out of Charleston yet that I would put my name on saying that it’s safe and air-worthy.” John M. Barnett, former Quality Control Manager on the 787 Dreamliner
“In aircraft production, and working with Boeing all these years, we have a rule of thumb: that it takes eight to ten years for a defect to become an issue on an airplane. So, if you look at the eight to ten-year time frame before a defect becomes an issue and our first plane was delivered in 2012, we’re starting to get into that eight to ten-year window.” John M. Barnett, former Quality Control Manager on the 787 Dreamliner
“Boeing’s number one priority should be the safety of the flying public. And the last six years that I worked with them, that is the last thing on their mind… Because it’s just about kicking airplanes out and making the cash register ring.” John M. Barnett, former Quality Control Manager on the 787 Dreamliner
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Ralph Nader Radio Hour. |
| 0:05.0 | Stand up, stand up. |
| 0:07.0 | You've been sitting way too long. Welcome to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour. My name is Steve Scrove and |
| 0:17.5 | along with my co-host David. How are you today David? |
| 0:20.7 | Excited about today's show, of course. |
| 0:23.0 | And we also have the man of the hour. |
| 0:25.0 | Ralph Nader. |
| 0:26.0 | Hello, Ralph. |
| 0:27.0 | Hello, everybody. |
| 0:28.0 | And I'm excited about today's show too. |
| 0:30.0 | Last week we had Dr. George Lubeber on the show. |
| 0:32.0 | He was being honored with the Joe A Calloway |
| 0:35.1 | Award for Pacific Courage for blowing the whistle at the Centers for Disease Control when he was |
| 0:40.8 | ordered to tap down his efforts to deal with the climate crisis. |
| 0:45.0 | Well on the show today we're going to feature another courageous Joe A Calloway Award winner. |
| 0:50.0 | His name is John M. Barnett. |
| 0:52.0 | Regular listeners to this show know the many His name is John M Barnett. |
| 0:52.6 | Regular listeners to this show know the many different ways |
| 0:56.0 | we have covered the Boeing Max 8 story. |
| 0:59.0 | We've talked about how mergers and management decisions |
| 1:01.6 | have turned a once great engineering company to more of a |
| 1:05.2 | financial company intent on jacking up its stock price, not through innovation, but through buying |
... |
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