Aviation has changed dramatically since Flight Safety Foundation, as it is structured today, was organized in 1947. Advances in technology and training, insight into the human-machine interface, greater understanding of human endurance and communication, and the growth of “just culture” have combined to produce a historically low accident rate. A look back at the Foundation’s 70-year history shows not only the Foundation’s role in advancing safety, and the foresight of its leadership over the decades, but also that some safety issues are particularly resistant to resolution.
FSF Origins
In 1945, the desire of a group of aeronautical engineers to improve the interface between human and machine in the airplane cockpit led to creation of a nonprofit research organization called Flight Safety Foundation. The William Teller Crane Foundation initially sponsored the new organization, but development plans called for it to become self-sufficient through consulting fees paid …
