Since its founding in 1945, the foundation has acted as a non-profit, independent clearinghouse to disseminate safety information, identify threats to safety, and recommend practical solutions, like, for example, the Approach and Landing Accident Reduction (ALAR) toolkit.

[1] The Aviation Crash Injury Research (AvCIR) Division initiated by Hugh DeHaven became part of FSF in April 1959, being transferred from Cornell University.

[6] The main foundation's stated objectives are to: In partnership with aviation community, FSF organizes four annual summit: FSF also organizes and sponsors smaller, regional safety events throughout the year.

Its main database contains details of over 23,000 reports (2022) and investigations, news, photos, and statistics.

Lujan joined the Aviation Safety Web Pages in August 1998.