The US Boeing Group, specialized in the aerospace and defense sector, has fired the executive Ed Clark, responsible for the program for the 737 Max passenger plane. The announcement, currently unofficial, comes after a plug door exploded in flight on a B-737 MAX 9 aircraft (registration number N704AL) operated by the US carrier Alaska Airlines on January 5, 2024. 

It was revealed by various international media, referring to an email that would have been sent to the Group's employees by the general director of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Stanley Deal, announcing the resignation of the vice president and general director of the 737 Max program with "immediate effect". The manager leaves the American company after 18 years of "devoted service to Boeing".

Clark took charge of the Max program in 2021, after 20 months of worldwide blockade on 737 Max aircraft due to two plane crashes in which 346 people lost their lives between 2018 and 2019. The role of manager will be taken over by Katie Ringgold, who until now was responsible for the delivery program of the Max aircraft; while Elizabeth Lund will assume the role of supervisor of commercial aircraft production. 

On the same topic, see also the article published by AVIONEWS.