Jerome F. Lederer (September 26, 1902 – February 6, 2004) was an American aviation-safety pioneer, known as "Mr. Aviation Safety." He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He received a BSC in mechanical engineering with aeronautical options in 1924 and an M.E. in 1925 from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. In

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

, he was hired by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

to oversee its plane maintenance. Lederer helped reduce pilot fatality by devising film crash tests and redesigning the exhaust stacks and other systems. From

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

, he served as chief engineer for aviation insurance underwriters. In

, he accepted an appointment as director of the Civil Aeronautics Board's Safety Bureau. He resigned in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

to become director of the Airlines War Training Institute. He trained 10,000 airmen and 35,000 mechanics for the Air Transport Command, and was a safety consultant to the

2nd Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

. In

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

, he organized the Flight Safety Foundation and was its director until

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. The Foundation provides global exchange of information on aircraft accident prevention. In 1967, following the deaths of three astronauts at the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

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appointed him director of the Office of Manned Space Flight Safety for the Apollo Program. In

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, he became director of safety for all of NASA. In 1987, Lederer was the recipient of the '' Tony Jannus Award'' for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation. He died of congestive heart failure in Laguna Hills, California, at the age of 101. Lederer was inducted into the

International Space Hall of Fame The New Mexico Museum of Space History is a museum and planetarium complex in Alamogordo, New Mexico dedicated to artifacts and displays related to space flight and the Space Age. It includes the International Space Hall of Fame. The Museum of S ...

in 1992.

Trivia

He inspected the

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlant ...

before

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

's trans-Atlantic flight. "I did not have too much hope that he would make it," he admitted years later. "I just went out because I was a friend of his, and I wanted to see the airplane, to look the situation over." The International Society of Air Safety Investigators yearly awards the Jerome F Lederer Award for "outstanding contributions to technical excellence in accident investigation." The Flight Safety Foundation "Jerome F. Lederer Safety Leadership Medal" recognizes an individual or team for making a significant contribution to the advancement of civil aviation safety.

References

*http://www.nasa.gov/news/highlights/lederer_obit.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210413/http://web.nbaa.org/public/news/pr/2003/20030501-024.php *http://flightsafety.org/about-the-foundation/history *http://www.airmailpioneers.org/content/newsletters/summer99.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20070705041748/https://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/arch_repos/GUIDE.PT8.html *http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60913FE3C5E0C7A8CDDAB0894DC404482&showabstract=1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lederer, Jerome F. American aerospace engineers NASA people American centenarians Men centenarians 1902 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American engineers