FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2002 FLIGHT SAFETY DIGEST SPECIAL ISSUE Jerry Lederer: Mr. Aviation Safety Jerry’s 100th Birthday SINCE 1947 FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION For Everyone Concerned With the Safety of Flight Flight Safety Digest Officers and Staff Vol. 21 No. 8–9 August–September 2002 Hon. Carl W. Vogt Chairman, Board of Governors In This Issue Stuart Matthews President and CEO Robert H. Vandel Jerry Lederer: Mr. Aviation Safety Executive Vice President James S. Waugh Jr. Jerry Lederer Continues to Inspire Treasurer Generations of Aviation Safety 1 ADMINISTRATIVE Professionals Ellen Plaugher Special Events and Products Manager As his 100th birthday nears, the president emeritus of Flight Linda Crowley Horger Safety Foundation not only stays tuned to current issues, but Manager, Support Services frequently reminds FSF staff of lessons that must not be FINANCIAL forgotten. Crystal N. Phillips Director of Finance and Administration Safety Innovations, Solutions 9 TECHNICAL Show Contemporary Relevance James Burin Excerpts from some of his best-known writing provide insight Director of Technical Programs into the concerns and perspectives of Jerome F. “Jerry” Joanne Anderson Lederer. Technical Programs Specialist Louis A. Sorrentino III Jerry Lederer: His Own Words Managing Director of Internal Evaluation Programs 19 Robert Feeler In 1994, at the Lederer home in Laguna Beach, California, Q-Star Program Administrator FSF staff recorded on audio tape more than 17 hours of Robert Dodd, Ph.D. Jerry’s recollections. Some of Jerry’s favorite memories in Manager, Data Systems and Analysis this oral history provide us with a more complete picture of Darol V. Holsman this extraordinary man. Manager of Aviation Safety Audits MEMBERSHIP Procedures in Accident Reporting Ann Hill 41 Director, Membership and Development Current Levels of Aircraft Safety Kim Granados Membership Manager 46 Ahlam Wahdan The Work of the Flight Safety Foundation Membership Services Coordinator 55 PUBLICATIONS Changing Concepts of Air Safety Roger Rozelle 60 Director of Publications Risk Speculations of the Apollo Project Mark Lacagnina 65 Senior Editor Wayne Rosenkrans Major Contributions to Aviation Safety Senior Editor 70 Linda Werfelman Human Factors in Communication Senior Editor 86 Karen K. Ehrlich (at the Working Level) Web and Print Production Coordinator Ann L. Mullikin About the cover: Jerry Lederer and his wife, Sarah (FSF Photo, 1994) Production Designer Flight Safety Foundation is an international membership organization dedicated Susan D. Reed to the continuous improvement of aviation safety. Nonprofit and independent, Production Specialist the Foundation was launched officially in 1947 in response to the aviation Patricia Setze industry’s need for a neutral clearinghouse to disseminate objective safety Librarian, Jerry Lederer Aviation Safety Library information, and for a credible and knowledgeable body that would identify threats to safety, analyze the problems and recommend practical solutions to them. Since its beginning, the Foundation has acted in the public interest to produce positive influence on aviation safety. Today, the Foundation provides Jerome Lederer leadership to more than 850 member organizations in more than 140 countries. President Emeritus Preface Rarely does any organization have the opportunity to send 100th-birthday greetings to its founder. Flight Safety Foundation eagerly anticipates celebrating that milestone Sept. 26, 2002, with President Emeritus Jerome F. “Jerry” Lederer, “Mr. Aviation Safety.” We have prepared this special issue of Flight Safety Digest to share some of what we treasure about Jerry with FSF members and his friends worldwide. While reviewing various historic materials, we have come to appreciate more fully why he inspires so many to give their best efforts to the cause of aviation safety. We have encountered Jerry the visionary, the innovator and the great thinker. We have seen Jerry as a prolific writer, persuasive leader and aggressive advocate who, blending legendary tenacity and diplomacy, insists that we do the right thing for safety. And through the years, we have seen his wife, Sarah, supporting Jerry in both his personal life and his distinguished professional career. Jerry’s passion for aviation safety still burns brightly. Frequent telephone messages from Jerry provide us with a unique connection to aviation’s past and to his recent safety insights on subjects such as how fuel lines in the space shuttle might be installed in coils to prevent load cracks and to reduce risks of fire; how alternate fuels such as hydrogen theoretically could help to mitigate post- accident fires; how passengers with dementia might be assisted during emergency evacuations; how brain-wave monitoring might help detect crewmember fatigue; how global warming might affect coastal airports, bird migration and takeoff/landing speeds; and why continuous transmission of aircraft flight data to ground stations might save precious time in determining the causes of accidents. One regret is that the Foundation has few photographs documenting Jerry’s life. We know that on various occasions, Jerry generously lent his archival photographs to others. Most have been dispersed irretrievably among friends, relatives, museums, libraries, aviation historians, authors, journalists and documentary producers. Nevertheless, we hope that this publication will help aviation safety professionals appreciate Jerry’s extraordinary legacy. — Publications Department Staff Flight Safety Foundation FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGEST • AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2002 i Editorial Note Every effort has been made to publish accurate information. We would be pleased to add to our archives details, documents or stories that you wish to share about Jerry Lederer. Such messages should be sent to Director of Publications, Flight Safety Foundation, 601 Madison Street, Suite 300, Alexandria VA 22314-1756, U.S. Personal Messages to Jerry Lederer Personal messages may be sent to Jerry Lederer in care of the FSF Jerry Lederer Aviation Safety Library at the above address. All messages will be forwarded to him, but he may not be able to respond to each one. Gifts to Library Tax-deductible gifts to the FSF library honoring Jerry Lederer should be marked clearly “For Lederer Library” and sent to the same address. ii FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGEST • AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2002 Jerry Lederer Continues to Inspire Generations of Aviation Safety Professionals As his 100th birthday nears, the president emeritus of Flight Safety Foundation not only stays tuned to current issues, but frequently reminds FSF staff of lessons that must not be forgotten. FSF Editorial Staff Family members, friends and colleagues standing by to an advocate of concepts that continue to prevent aircraft celebrate the 100th birthday of Jerome Fox “Jerry” Lederer accidents. on Sept. 26, 2002, face a formidable challenge: Agreement on the probable cause and contributing factors behind the Stuart Matthews, FSF president and CEO, said, “Those of us achievements of his extraordinary life will be nearly who have been privileged to be a part of Jerry’s life know impossible. The only consensus is that the twinkle in his eyes him for his wit, creativity and inspiration in his tireless reveals not only megawatt energy and intellect, but abiding dedication to aviation safety. When Jerry began his career in passion for the people, professional ideals and myriad pursuits aviation in the 1920s, pilots and airplanes were lost at an that bring him joy. appalling rate, despite the skill of many pilots, because aviation technology and systems were rudimentary Lederer is the organizer, first director and president and aviation-risk-management principles emeritus of Flight Safety Foundation (FSF). The remained largely unknown. Jerry’s ideas for FSF Jerry Lederer Aviation Safety Library was sharing widely and objectively the lessons established in 1989 to honor his life’s work. Retired learned from aircraft accidents — and from the Foundation since 1967, he typically calls preventing the loss of life and the loss of aircraft FSF staff several times a week for help in by innovative methods — have built a foundation researching his latest project or to share insights and for generations of aviation safety professionals.” connections between current aviation safety issues and those of long ago. Admirers On the occasion of the Foundation’s 50th worldwide call him “Mr. Aviation anniversary in 1997, Lederer was Safety” and the “Father of Aviation presented a certificate that “best Safety.” describes our feelings for Jerry,” said Matthews: Born Sept. 26, 1902, Lederer is renowned as the innovator of many Jerome F. Lederer was already a programs designed to save lives and pioneering aviation safety specialist reduce airline accident rates, and as Jerry Lederer before he launched the Foundation FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGEST • AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2002 1 a half-century ago. His influence on aviation safety continues. Born in 1902, Jerry, as he prefers to be known, has lived through the entire history of powered flight and changed it for the better. In beginning Flight Safety Foundation, and nurturing its evolution into a worldwide forum, he sowed the seeds for most of the Foundation’s current projects and ongoing initiatives. Jerry has also advanced aerospace safety in many other capacities, always maintaining the special qualities that brought him to the forefront of his field and