To all of us who step aboard a commercial jet, confident we'll arrive safely at our destination, we owe a vote of thanks to Air Mail Pioneer President Jerry Lederer.  Nationally known as Mr. Aviation Safety, Jerry founded the Flight Safety Foundation after the war, an organization committed to the global exchange of information on aircraft accident prevention.  For 20 years Jerry served as the Foundation's managing director.  During that time he developed most of the programs it carries out today, including an annual International Air Safety Seminars; aviation safety research projects; and a number of recurrent publications examining flight safety from various aspects.

Jerry wrote the following Pilot's Code as a credo for pilots to follow.  He writes: "It was adopted by the USAF Air Transport Service posted on cockpit doors and pilot ready-rooms.  I wrote it about 1950."

Pilot's Code

As a professional pilot, I recognize my obligations:
1.  To the public which trusts its safety to my skill and judgment.
2.  To my fellow pilots who mutually depend upon me to follow established good practice.
3.  To my crew members who look at me to exercise my best judgment and leadership.
4.  To my co-workers who constantly are striving for greater achievements and general over-all improvement in aviation.
5.  To my organization which entrusts me, in the conduct of my flights, with moral and economic responsibilities.
 To discharge these obligations, I will at all time observe the highest standards of my profession.
     * I never will knowingly jeopardize the safety of a flight by undertaking a risk to satisfy personal desires, nor will I fly when my mental or physical condition might lead to additional risk.
     * I will use all means at my disposal to assure the safety of every flight both as to my assigned duties and those of my fellow crewmen.
     * I will continue to keep abreast of aviation developments so that my judgment, which largely depends on such knowledge, may be of the highest order.
     * My deportment, both on duty and off, reflects my respect for my profession and for my country, and it shall be such as to bring credit to both.
     * I pledge adherence to these principles for the advancement of aviation and to further the dignity of my profession.
 Ethics are not learned by teaching; they are inculcated by example and by experience.  To a man of honor, "ethics come as naturally as good table manners."