It is widely recognized that for the Kennedys, tragedy has come often and from unexpected quarters. The filmmaker Rory Kennedy, born six months after the assassination of her father Robert Kennedy, has known her share. But in 2024 it was a loss outside the political dynasty that shook her to the core.
John Barnett, a quality inspector turned whistleblower at Boeing, one of the world’s biggest plane manufacturers, was found dead in his truck outside a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina. Affectionately known as “Swampy” because of his roots in Louisiana, Barnett had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
“I pray the motherfuckers that destroyed my life pay!!!” he wrote in a journal that was found beside him. “I pray Boeing Pays!!! Bury me face down so Boeing and their lying ass leaders can kiss my ass[.] To My Family and Friends, I Found My Purposes! I’m at Peace!”
Kennedy, 58, had come to befriend Barnett after featuring him in Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, which examined the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that claimed 346 lives. His harrowing death spurred her and producing partner Mark Bailey to make a sequel, Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, streaming on Netflix from August.
She recalls by phone: “I was horrified and heartbroken. I spoke to his mom pretty immediately after we had heard that news. She said to me, we need to make sure John’s story gets out there, and that was a big part of why we decided to revisit this.
“I’ve never done a...
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