The purpose of BFU is to find out the causes of air accidents and incidents and how they can be prevented.

The BFU facility is located in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony.

[2][4] West Germany joined the Convention on International Civil Aviation including the standards and recommended practices on aircraft accident and incident investigation (Annex 13) in 1956.

Initially subordinate to the neighbouring Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Aviation Office), the Bureau of Aviation Accident Investigation according to a recommendation by the International Civil Aviation Organization in 1980 was put under the direct authority of the Federal Ministry of Transport.

The BFU was formally established as an upper-level federal agency in 1998.