Boeing Ousts Head of 737 MAX Program After Door Plug Fiasco

The missing emergency door of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max, which made an emergency landing due to a door plug blowout, is covered and taped, in Portland, Ore., on Jan. 23, 2024. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

Boeing has ousted the head of its 737 Max program, which comes roughly six weeks after a door plug blew out mid-flight on a 737 Max aircraft and a safety review found that the plane had taken off with missing bolts.

Ed Clark, who headed the 737 Max program, is departing the company effective immediately, according to a Feb. 21 memo to staff from Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing’s commercial airplanes division. A company spokesperson provided The Epoch Times with a copy of the memo.

Mr. Deal said in the memo that the changes are part of an “enhanced focus” on ensuring that every airplane that the company delivers “meets or exceeds all quality and safety requirements.”

“Our customers demand, and deserve, nothing less,” Mr. Deal said.

Boeing’s increased focus on safety comes after the company admitted in mid-January that its 737 Max production quality wasn’t up to standard following greater scrutiny sparked by the midair door plug blowout.

A panel covering an unused emergency door blew out not long after takeoff on an Alaska Airlines-operated Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft on Jan. 5, prompting a rapid decompression and forcing an emergency landing.

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This photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows a gaping hole where the paneled-over door had been at the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 in Portland, Ore. on Jan. 7, 2024. (The Canadian Press/AP-HO, National Transportation Safety Board)

The incident led the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground all 737 Max 9s, order “enhanced inspections” on the planes, and launch an investigation into Boeing to see if the company failed to ensure proper production safety standards.

Boeing stated that it was cooperating fully with the probe, with Mr. Deal saying in mid-January that the Alaska Airlines incident showed that “we are not where we need to be” in terms of quality and that the company would undertake “immediate actions to bolster quality assurance and controls” across its factories.

While carrying out the resulting FAA-mandated inspections, some of Boeing’s customers found additional issues, including loose door plug bolts.

Besides the issues with bolts, an employee also reportedly discovered improperly drilled holes on some of the 737 Max fuselages.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 with a gaping hole where the paneled-over door had been at the fuselage plug area of the plane, in Portland, Ore., on Jan. 7, 2024. (National Transportation Safety Board via AP)

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the incident, determined that the bolts that were supposed to secure the door plug to the frame of the Alaska Airlines airplane in question were missing when the plane took off.

The Incident

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was en route to Ontario, California, from Portland, Oregon, when the exit door plug tore off, leading to the rapid decompression and emergency landing.

The incident took place about six minutes into the flight, when the aircraft had reached an altitude of about 16,000 feet.

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. Experts say if the incident had taken place at a higher elevation, such as a cruising altitude of about 40,000 feet, the door plug failure could have been deadly.

The pilot declared an emergency, notifying air traffic control of a depressurization issue.

Social media footage showed a window and a portion of a side wall panel missing on the airplane and oxygen masks deployed.

The plane door was later found in the backyard of a Portland home.

The door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 in Portland, Ore., on Jan. 8, 2024. (National Transportation Safety Board via AP)

NTSB investigators would later find that all four bolts were missing before the plane took off from Portland.

Without the bolts in place, there was nothing to prevent the door plug from sliding upward and detaching from the fuselage.

The NTSB preliminary report found that the door plug, which was installed by supplier Spirit AeroSystems, arrived at Boeing’s factory with some damaged rivets. In order to repair the damaged rivets, technicians had to remove the four bolts.

The investigation didn’t declare a probable cause for the accident. That is expected to come at the conclusion of the investigation, which could last for more than a year.

Boeing CEO David Calhoun said in a statement regarding the NTSB preliminary report that “whatever final conclusions are reached, Boeing is accountable for what happened.”

“An event like this must not happen on an airplane that leaves our factory. We simply must do better for our customers and their passengers,” he said.

Further Leadership Shakeup

In his memo to staff, Mr. Deal announced several other leadership changes in addition to Mr. Clark’s departure.

Katie Ringgold will replace Mr. Clark as vice president and general manager of the 737 program and the Renton site.

Ms. Ringgold’s replacement as vice president of 737 delivery operations will be named in relatively short order, according to Mr. Deal.

Elizabeth Lund has been named to the new position of senior vice president for BCA quality, in which she will lead the company’s quality control and assurance efforts, including the quality initiatives it recently announced, “within BCA and the supply chain,” Mr. Deal said.

Ms. Lund will continue to serve on the company’s executive council as chair of the Boeing Quality Operations Council.

Mike Fleming will take over from Ms. Lund as senior vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Airplane Programs.

In his message, Mr. Deal thanked the departing Mr. Clark, expressing “deepest gratitude for his many significant contributions over nearly 18 years of dedicated service to Boeing.”

All the leadership changes were effective immediately.