Family of Boeing worker who died after workplace injury demands transparent investigation
By Sydney Ferguson
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WICHITA, Kansas (KAKE) — The family of a man who died shortly after a fall at Boeing last month says they’re learning that his injuries are ultimately what led to his death. His coworkers tell them safety concerns in the facility have gone unaddressed for some time.
Now the family is taking action to ensure no families ever follow in their footsteps.
Laina Lussier, wife of 53-year-old Daniel Lussier, describes him as a loving father and husband who was always there to help anyone who needed him. It’s this care that was especially evident as she cared for her mother on hospice in recent years.
“He’d say, take a nap. He’d let me sleep six, seven hours, and then he’d take care of mom every hour, and then he’d wake me up,” said Laina.
“I was teasing my mom. She kept telling me, ‘you need to go spend time with your husband,’ and I told her, I said, ‘Mom, I’ve already got 23 years with my husband, so I got another 20 years to go.'”
If you had told Laina in April that time would be cut short, ending in just a few weeks, she wouldn’t have believed you, but it’s true. Laina says it’s a devastating loss.
“21 days later, after my mom passed, my husband’s gone,” said Laina. “He was basically my world.”
Lussier worked as an aircraft mechanic for at Boeing for almost nine years — his wife says it was his dream job.
“We didn’t know it was gonna end up being part of the reason he was dead,” said Laina.
On April 22, Lussier suffered a fall at work. Laina says coworkers who saw it tell her he fell four feet into the belly of a plane and landed on his chest, hitting a crossbeam.
“A kid was bringing in a track, so my husband stepped out of the way and stepped on a cross beam, but he didn’t get his foot completely on it, and he ended up– His foot ended up sliding off,” said Laina. “He gets to the hospital, and we find out he broke ribs eight through 12.”
Laina says Lussier was released from St. Francis the next afternoon despite breaking five ribs. She says things seemed fine at home right up until he died — just three days after his release.
“My son had to do CPR, we called the ambulance and by 1:30 a.m. he was gone,” said a teary-eyed Laina. “If it wasn’t for this accident, my husband would still be here.”
According to Laina, an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a blood clot in his lung that likely came from his leg. Laina says the coroner told her the accident at Boeing was a contributing factor.
She says it’s a devastating loss for the family, to lose their sole-provider and the family’s foundation.
Since his death, Lussier’s daughter Shandy says they’ve heard from over a dozen workers, past and present, offering more than just condolences,
“It’s very unsettling to see how many people are saying that they’ve either had accidents in the same area… or that they have filed personal complaints about safety, and nothing is being done,” said Shandy.
Sadly, Laina says Lussier complained about safety issues in the facility at home all the time.
“He was always forever telling me that he was worried about how or if somebody would have an issue,” said Laina. “I wasn’t surprised that he was hurt, I was surprised at the severity and the fact that we lost him to it.”
We reached out to Boeing with specific questions about the incident and safety inside the facility, including asking how many times safety issues have been brought up in the past and how they were handled.
The company did not answer these questions, but sent over a statement that reads as follows:
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our valued teammates. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and coworkers during this very difficult time and we will continue to support them. We continue to investigate last month’s workplace accident with a commitment to understand exactly what happened and take any actions to help prevent it in the future.
Across Boeing, we continue to prioritize the safety of our people and our products, including holding dedicated safety stand downs to listen to teammates, review our workplace processes and share ideas for improving safety and quality.”
Laina says her family has hired its own investigator to ensure the incident is properly investigated.
“Safety should not be something that you don’t take care of. It should be first and foremost over the planes, because if you ain’t got the workers to build the plane, you ain’t getting the plane out,” said Laina. “If safety would have been put at the forefront, I might have a husband still… something needs to change.”
Laina says the goal is to ensure no other family ever goes through what hers is.
Friday, the International Association of Machinists, the Union that represents Boeing machinists in Wichita, released a statement demanding transparency. The organization says Lussier was an 18-year member and it will be conducting an investigation of its own into whether safety policies were followed.
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