Brent Beardall, CEO of Seattle-based Washington Federal, suffered broken bones and lacerations in a plane crash in Utah on Monday.
Beardall, 51, underwent surgery this week and is expected to make a full recovery. He will take a leave of absence while recovering, the bank said. Cathy Cooper, head of WaFd's consumer banking operations, will serve as interim CEO.
"We have every confidence in our strong management's ability to move forward with the execution of the bank's strategy," Stephen Graham, WaFd's chairman of the board, said in a statement a day after the crash.
The incident at Utah's Provo Municipal Airport killed Nathan Ricks, the plane's pilot. Ricks, 62, is a former executive of Provo-based Nu Skin Enterprises, a marketing company for skin care products.
The business jet crashed immediately after takeoff Monday morning around 11:35 a.m. local time, city officials said. Ricks, Beardall and two other passengers were headed to the Rose Bowl college football game in Pasadena, California. The two other passengers suffered minor injuries.
Provo's airport shut down after the accident until the site could be inspected by the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.
Beardall makes regular business trips to Utah, one of the eight states where WaFd does business. The bank in November announced
