Ed Clark oversaw the Renton factory where the Alaska Airlines plane involved in the explosion was completed.
The head of Boeing's troubled 737 MAX program has left the planemaker, according to a company memo, amid scrutiny over production and safety measures following a mid-air explosion on a plane last month.
The company also reorganized its leadership team in the Commercial Aircraft division, according to the memo sent to staff by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) CEO Stan Deal and first reported by the Seattle Times on Wednesday.
Ed Clark, an 18-year Boeing veteran who was vice president of the MAX program, will leave the company, according to the memo. The Seattle Times reported that he had been expelled.
Clark will be replaced by Katie Ringgold as vice president and general manager, according to the memo.
Boeing has been struggling to explain and strengthen its safety procedures after the January crash of a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9, in which a cockpit panel broke off and flew into the air.
Clark was general manager of the company's Renton, Washington factory, where the plane involved in the crash was completed.
In the memo, Deal said the leadership changes were intended to boost BCA's “increased focus on ensuring that every aircraft we deliver meets or exceeds all quality and safety requirements,” The Seattle Times reported.
The leadership changes come ahead of Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun's planned meeting with U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) Administrator Mike Whitaker next week, after the regulator will travel to Renton to tour the Boeing 737 plant.
The FAA grounded the MAX 9 for several weeks in January and limited Boeing's production of the MAX while it audits the planemaker's manufacturing process.
The door panel that flew off the plane appeared to be missing four key bolts, according to a preliminary report from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board in early February.
According to the report, the door plug in question was removed to repair rivet damage, but the NTSB has found no evidence that the bolts were reinstalled.
The panel is a power outlet on some 737 MAX 9s instead of an additional emergency exit.
This is the second crisis to affect Boeing in recent years, after two MAX aircraft accidents that killed 346 people.
