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 "air safety" ...
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Air Security - Why You're Not as Safe as You Think
"Eight years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, there are critical gaps in the nation's aviation security system, a Consumer Reports investigation found."
Tags: airline safety; screening; terrorist; attacks; security; TSA; Transportation Security Administration;
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Close Calls
Complaints of near-miss, mid-air collisions from the Aviation Safety Reporting System indicate a growing number of close calls between airplanes in South Florida.
Tags: airplane; collision; air traffic control; aviation; FAA; Aviation Safety Reporting System; ASRS
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Air Marshals: Undercover and Under Arrest
The Federal Air Marshal Service presents the image of an elite undercover force charged with making life-and-death decisions that demand sound judgment. ProPublica found that dozens of air marshals have been charged with crimes, including 18 felonies, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct. Cases include smuggling drugs past airport security, aiding a human trafficking ring, child sex abuse, bribery, drunken driving, domestic violence, holding an escort against her will during an overnight layover, solicitation to commit murder and voyeurism after one air marshal was caught taking photos of women's genitals on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Tags: air marshals; Transportation Safety Agency; human trafficking; child sex abuse; drunken driving; domestic violence; criminal convictions
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Trauma in the Air: Victims Wait for Help
This investigation revealed that seriously injured trauma victims needlessly wait up to an extra half hour for help from New Jersey State Police medevac helicopters, when privately-operated medevac helicopters are just minutes away. This situation exists because of a three way battle between the state police, the state-run hospital system and private helicopters.
Tags: patient safety; hospitals; health; dispatchers; emergency care
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CR Investigates an Accident Waiting to Happen
This report found that more airlines than ever are outsourcing their major maintenance work, often to overseas facilities. This trend has several implications. The outsourcing and contracting means that workers are not screened as carefully as they were when airlines did their own maintenance. Also, flight data shows that airlines that outsource services tend to have more delays.
Tags: transportation; air travel; airports; delays; air safety
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Air Cargo Security
Though it has been five years since air safety went through a reform in the wake of 9/11, the screening process of cargo loaded onto airplanes is lax, keeping passengers in danger. Screening of passengers has improved, but the cargo has been a safety afterthought. They rely on a "known" or "trusted" shipper program, which means you must "be a known shipper to send cargo on a passenger plane." This leads to security lapses as reported by CBS News.
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Federal Air Marshals; System Failure
An exposed look at the public safety failures inside the Federal Air Marshal service. Some current and former air marshals that were interviewed said that "any diligent terrorist organizations could easily identify and single out flying federal air marshals under current regulations."
Tags: air marshal; airport security; terminal; national security;
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Collision Course
The number airborne incidents in Canadian air space are occuring at an alarmingly increasing rate while the Canadian government agency that oversees air safety plans to decrease industry oversight and increase self-regulation.
Tags: air safety; airplane; flight; air traffic; regulation; Canada
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Deadly Express
In a 9-month investigation, The Miami Herald uncovered inaccuracies in the government's reporting of the frequency of fatal cargo plane crashes. Through the analysis of extensive government documents dating back to 2000, the reporters found that 69 planes have crashed claiming the lives of 85 people, thus "making air cargo the nation's deadliest form of commercial aviation." Despite this fact, pleas to apply more stringent safety regulations on cargo flights have been ignored. Worse yet, when these lax safety standards result in fatal crashes, the pilots are often saddled with the blame.
Tags: aviation; cargo planes; FAA; regulations; plane crash; CAR
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In Harm's Way
The Houston Chronicle funded and conducted a study into air quality at 84 homes and 16 public places in four Southwest Texas communities adjacent to major refineries and/or chemical plants. The newspaper also analyzed more than a decade's worth of air pollution data collected by the state. The effort revealed that residents in this area were being exposed to elevated levels of dangerous and cancer-causing pollutants. Officials were aware of this and some of their own employees charged with monitoring the air were getting sick themselves. The study was able to pinpoint the culprit, adjacent industries.
Tags: pollution; industrial waste; public safety; pollutants; benzene; 1; 3-butadiene; air toxins; Texas Release Inventory; Texas Emissions Events; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality