Boeing's 737 Max program leader is leaving in the wake of Alaska Airlines incident

Boeing announced the head of its 737 Max program is leaving the company.

In a memo to employees that USA TODAY reviewed, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Stan Deal, said Ed Clark, who has overseen Max production since 2021, is exiting Boeing immediately.

Katie Ringgold is succeeding Clark as vice president and general manager of the 737 program.

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The Max family of planes has been under intense scrutiny for years, and regulators took a renewed interest in the jet after a January episode during which an Alaska Airlines jet lost a door plug in an explosive decompression during a flight.

A Boeing 737 MAX 7 takes off on its first flight on March 16, 2018, in Renton, Washington.

No one was injured, but the incident grounded Max jets again as regulators probed what happened.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet issued its final report, but preliminary findings suggest missing and improperly installed bolts were a primary cause of the problem.

Cruising Altitude: I’ve covered Boeing’s 737 MAX for years. Here’s a quick rundown of the issues.

Subsequent inspections by maintenance personnel at United Airlines and Alaska Airlines found manufacturing defects on other 737 Max jets that were not involved in the incident, and the Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing’s Max production lines.

Clark stepped into his position at the head of the Max program in 2021 after the plane’s first grounding. The planes were previously barred from flying following two crashes abroad that killed 346 people in total. The Max remains a popular jet with airlines, but the program is under intense scrutiny both internally at Boeing and from external regulators following the series of high-pro

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boeing’s 737 Max program leader is leaving in the wake of Alaska Airlines incident