The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Columbia Accident Investigation Board" ...
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"Columbia Final Mission"
Reporters from ABC News investigate the tragedy of the Columbia space shuttle, which exploded on February 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts on board. Over the course of six months, the reporters conducted their own independent investigation of the events that caused the Columbia accident. Reporters spoke with a series of safety officials, engineers, and flight director, Leroy Cain and discovered that a number of individuals tried to warn NASA about the possible problems with the vessel. As a result, ABC News released the findings two months before NASA released theirs, which managed to contain a lot of the same information. ABC News also played a large role in encouraging NASA to perform "a broad review of its safety and management practices."
Tags: Columbia; space shuttle; NASA
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The Columbia Disaster
These stories are about the Columbia space shuttle accident. They include pieces on the frequency and severity of foam impacts on previous shuttles;a story that Columbia mission engineers had been worried about possible damage by the foam strike but had been dismissed by their superiors; reporting on the behind-the-scenes debate over whether to seek imagery of the damage and about the inadequacies of the efforts to try to predict damage; a story on how accident investigating board members were being paid by NASA in order to get around federal-open meeting requirements; and a look at 6 other chronic shuttle problems that have been accepted as "normal" by NASA engineers, just as foam was accepted.
Tags: Columbia Space Shuttle; NASA; accident investigation; foam; Columbia mission; NASA engineers; Columbia Accident Investigation Board; engineering reports; astronauts; Mission Control; Challenger; Edwards Air Force Base; Atlantis; Endeavor; Discovery; Marshall Space Flight Center; insulation; debris; tiles; United Space Alliance; wing failure
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Columbia's Last Flight
The Atlantic Monthly tells the inside story of the Columbia space shuttle disaster and the investigation that followed it. With access to key figures and evidence at NASA and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, the story provides an insight from different perspectives: the personal, the institutional, the concrete, the abstract, the emotional and the political. Finally, the report reveals deep flaws in NASA's oversight of Columbia's last flight.
Tags: Hal Gehman; Kennedy Space Center; Rick Husband; Fred Gregory
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Plane Speaking
NBC News Dateline reports on "a simple, yet deadly problem: mis-communication between commercial pilots and air traffic controllers." The investigation reveals that although "English is the defacto language of aviation, ... a lack of oversight has led to a breakdown in simple communication." It documents how poor language skills have hindered communication between foreign pilots and U.S. controllers, as well as between American pilots and controllers abroad. The report shows that the problem is widespread, because the Federal Aviation has failed to enforce a standard. The investigation uncovers a tape "that documented how poor language skill contributed to the crash of an American Airlines plane into the side of a mountain in Cali, Columbia." It also details numerous differences between the standard aviation phraseology in the U.S.A. and the rest of the world.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; safety; airplanes; accidents; language proficiency; FAA; NASA; National Transportation Safety Board; FOIA; pilot licences; International Civil Aviation Organization