Joe Sutter, American aeronautical engineer, Died at 95

  Reseacher

Joseph Frederick “Joe” Sutter was born on March 21, 1921, and died August 30, 2016.

He was an American engineer for the Boeing Airplane Company and manager of the design team for the Boeing 747 under Malcolm T. Stamper, the head of the 747 project.

The Smithsonian Air and Space Magazine has described Sutter as the “father of the 747”.

During 1940, Joe took a summer job at Boeing Plant 2 while studying aeronautical engineering at the University of Washington.

Eventually, he had ended up becoming the “father of the 747”.

Differently from his work at Boeing, Sutter served as a junior officer aboard the destroyer escort USS Edward H. Allen (DE-531) in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

He served on the Rogers Commission, investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Sutter was also selected as a recipient of the International Air Cargo Association’s 2002 Hall of Fame Award and was an engineering sales consultant.

For all his contributions to the development of commercial jet aircraft, he was awarded the United States Medal of Technology in 1985.

Joe Sutter passed away at 95 years old.