Brian Knowles on John Barnett and Boeing’s Freefall

In March, 2024, Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was found dead in his truck at a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina after a break in depositions in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit.

In an email at the time to Corporate Crime Reporter, Barnett’s attorney Brian Knowles wrote that Barnett “was supposed to do day three of his deposition here in Charleston on his AIR21 case.” (AIR21 refers to a federal law that provides whistleblower protection for employees in the aviation industry.) 

“Today is a tragic day,” Knowles wrote. “John had been back and forth for quite some time getting prepared. The defense examined him for their allowed seven hours under the rules on Thursday. I cross examined him all day yesterday (Friday) and did not finish. We agreed to continue this morning at 10 a.m. (co-counsel) Rob (Turkewitz) kept calling this morning and his (Barnett’s) phone would go to voicemail. We then asked the hotel to check on him. They found him in his truck dead from an ‘alleged’ self-inflicted gunshot. We drove to the hotel and spoke with the police and the coroner.”

Inspired by John Barnett’s whistleblowing at Boeing, documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy is just out with a new Netflix special – Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing.

The movie does a deep dive into the once-iconic aviation giant, uncovering new revelations and capturing voices from inside Boeing. 

It’s Kennedy’s follow up to her 2022 Netflix movie about the Boeing Max crashes – Downfall: The Case Against Boeing.

Freefall delves into concerns surrounding Boeing aircrafts following a series of shocking incidents and the untimely death of outspoken whistleblower John Barnett. 

Freefall uncovers Boeing’s broken promises to enhance safety and increase transparency, resulting in the catastrophic door plug blowout on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, featuring testimony from whistleblowers and regulators who have risked everything to unveil the deteriorating safety standards and chaotic conditions at Boeing. 

It also shines a light on the fight for justice by the families of the 737 MAX crash victims. Freefall not only highlights the company’s ongoing struggles, but pays tribute to the extraordinary courage of those who continue to challenge the aviation industry’s most formidable giant. 

The movie features John Barnett’s attorneys, Brian Knowles and Rob Turkewitz. We interviewed Knowles on the day the movie came out on Netflix – August 19, 2026.

You represented Barnett and the family in litigation related to his whistleblowing at Boeing. What was the outcome of those?

“The first was the AIR21 Whistleblower Protection case with the Department of Labor administrative law judges,” Barnett told Corporate Crime Reporter in an interview last week. “That was resolved for an undisclosed sum. Then there was a follow up case we filed in federal court in South Carolina against Boeing alleging a wrongful death and abuse of process. We are consummating the settlement in that case. We still have to get court approval.” 

Was it your colleague in the movie who said — while Boeing might not have pulled the trigger, they nonetheless caused John Barnett’s death?

“Yes – Rob Turkewitz.”

This movie is out today. The movie shows that after John Barnett’s death, which was ruled a suicide, many more whistleblowers came out of the woodwork.

“We started being contacted by dozens and dozens of folks within the aviation industry that had concerns. They were inspired by John and what he had done. He inspired a lot of people to come forward – people who had previously hesitated about coming forward.” 

John was getting a lot of press when he was alive. Was it his death that caused these whistleblowers to come forward?

“John was an honest person who had a lot of integrity. Those are the characteristics folks who speak up typically have. People felt that John Barnett shouldn’t be the only one out there carrying this. If they were seeing issues within the company, they felt compelled to speak out after hearing about what happened to him.”

The movie portrays Boeing as a company that hasn’t learned many lessons from all of these disasters. It went from a culture of integrity and quality control to a company that was slashing costs and quality control fell by the wayside. That transformed the company. 

Even the reforms failed. Boeing implemented what it called the Speak Up program, which was supposed to be a way that whistleblowers could safely call in and address issues on the shop floor. But in fact, when they called, instead of investigating the problem, Boeing turned on the whistleblowers.

Do you sense that since John’s death, things have gotten better or worse?

“Before John’s death, we had been retained by Sam Mohawk, who works in Renton, Washington on the 737 MAX program. We filed an AIR21 complaint against Boeing on his behalf. One of his allegations was that he had contacted the Speak Up program, and the case was given to his direct managers – the same people he was complaining about. That’s not the proper or ethical way to handle complaints.”

“His case was resolved and he’s still employed there.”

How many Boeing whistleblowers do you represent?

“Quite a few. I still get at least one or two calls a week from folks. Right now I’m presently representing about eight to ten Boeing and Spirit employees. They don’t have active cases. I represent those folks in relation to whistleblowing to government agencies.”

Given all of this adverse publicity, is Boeing changing its ways?

“It’s not something where the company will just heal and get better overnight and get back on track. It’s a large organization and it’s going to take a lot of strong leadership to turn itself around. It’s going to be a long process.”

“Rory Kennedy makes movies that have a social impact. I believe one reason she did this was to try and help Boeing correct their problems. I hope this movie helps Boeing get back on track and turn around. I don’t want to be constantly receiving calls from people saying they are being retaliated against for raising safety concerns. It’s not a good thing.”

Watching this movie I got the sense that we are now in a culture that doesn’t take care, doesn’t take care of safety above all else. 

We are moving away from due diligence and safety. Are you sensing that?

“That’s clearly the sense of the whistleblowers in the movie. You’re dealing with airplanes that carry hundreds of people. Quality and safety have to be your top priority. And Freefall shows how after the McDonnell Douglas merger, the culture at Boeing changed from quality and safety to profits over safety. They stripmined the company. All the stock buybacks.”

“Boeing is still one of our country’s largest organizations. It’s a top exporter. They are a part of the defense industry. It’s a company that cannot fail. It needs to reverse its culture and get back to one that puts quality and safety over everything else. The company needs to be the flagship of the industry.” 

Merle Meyers appears in the movie. He was a long time quality manager at Boeing. Meyers discovered corroded 787 landing gear axles that had been scrapped along with other scrap parts were being put back onto Boeing planes. 

He came out publicly as a whistleblower in April of 2024, in a New York Times interview. Meyers currently hosts a support group for other whistleblowers. 

“He was a third generation Boeing employee from his family. And he says there is not going to be a fourth generation. In the Seattle area, Boeing is known for hiring generations of family members.”

“And you start losing that talent, all because of corporate culture. The company should want people like Sam Mohawk, Roy Irvin and Bill Seitz, Merle Meyers and Sam Salehpour, John Barnett, Cynthia Kitchens – all of these other folks who have stood up and tried to tell the company – you are doing it the wrong way, here are the issues that need to be addressed, fix them. But no, when they raised these issues, they were retaliated against.”

What did John want from this case?

“In an AIR21 case, your damages are limited to lost wages and emotional distress and attorneys fees. Those are the three items of damages we were seeking.” 

Is Boeing your total caseload?

“No. I also have a thriving personal injury practice. I have other whistleblower cases, not just aviation but other industries.”

Did you start as a personal injury lawyer?

“I was handling some real property cases and construction defect cases.” 

How did you get into whistleblower litigation?

“Boeing moved to Charleston. We started hearing from employees shortly after they moved here. Rob Turkewitz introduced me to it. He had handled whistleblower cases in the past. John Barnett initially reached out to Rob and Rob brought me in on it. That was around 2017.”

Who represented Boeing in the Barnett case?

“I can tell you we went through three national law firms over the course of the litigation.” 

“I hope Boeing starts to finally listen and start moving the company in the right direction. These folks come forward and they truly are heroes in my book.” 

“They risk their careers. It’s not an easy thing to do to stand up and do the right thing against powerful interests. But I enjoy helping people. That’s why I got into the law – to help people.”

You would guess that if Boeing were changing its ways, the whistleblowers would tell you it was happening. Instead of retaliating, 

Boeing would start taking these complaints seriously and fixing the problems. Are you hearing that?

“No. I’m getting the exact opposite. Like I said – I’d like to not hear from people saying they are being retaliated against. That would tell me the company is back on track. But until then, folks need to continue doing the right thing and come forward if the problems are not being addressed. That will help the company and help the flying public stay safe.”

[For the complete q/a format Interview with Brian Knowles, 40 Corporate Crime Reporter 33(12), August 31, 2026, print edition only.]