Aviation-related Stories from IRE's Resource Center (PART IV)

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Title Number Year Source Author Summary
Untitled 1327 1989 The New York Times Magazine N/A New York Times Magazine examines the work of air-traffic controllers working at the 23 Tracons and 20 air-route traffic control centers in the United States; reports the number of controller errors, near-collisions, and midair collisions has been declining; details several controller errors being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, June 4, 1989.
Untitled 3655 1989 Progressive Magazine N/A The Progressive details the battle between disabled people and airlines; finds airlines want to control who can board planes and who can sit in exit aisles, while disabled passengers contend airlines discriminate without justification; looks at the regulatory negotiations which took place after the 1986 Air Carriers Access Act was passed, June 1989.
Untitled 3657 1989 Washington Monthly N/A Washington Monthly details how the Department of Transportation requires testing of pilots for illegal drug use, but does not test them for alcohol or prescription sedatives; documents a case in which a pilot was fired for being intoxicated during a flight, yet a court ruled the airline had to reinstate him; reveals the DOT found 8,000 pilots did not report their drunk driving convictions on FAA certification applications, April 1989.
Untitled 6445 1989 KSDK-TV (St. Louis) N/A KSDK-TV (St. Louis) compares the safety records of airlines; found TWA, the largest carrier out of St. Louis, had the most in-flight incidents over a three-year period, Nov. 27 - 29, 1989.
Untitled 6980 1990 Washington Monthly N/A Washington Monthly looks at why deregulation of the airline industry has failed, March 1990.
How Safe is LAX? 7139 1990 Los Angeles Times Magazine N/A Los Angeles Times Magazine investigates air safety around Los Angeles International Airport, April 22, 1990.
Inexperienced Pilots Plaguing Commuter Airlines 7263 1990 San Francisco Chronicle David Dietz San Francisco Chronicle documents the inexperience of commuter airline pilots; the FAA denies there is any danger, but a string of fatal commuter crashes was traced to pilots with marginal qualifications and histories of careless flying.
Untitled 7320 1990 Citizen (Tucson, Ariz.) N/A Tucson Citizen studies air safety problems at the Grand Canyon; near misses are likely and the death toll is high as tour flights, helicopters and military planes use the same airspace; the local airport is the third largest in the state, yet it has no radar and its control tower is on the wrong side of the runway, Oct. 15 - 19, 1990.
Untitled 7416 1990 WCIX-TV (Miami) N/A WCIX-TV (Miami) uncovers series of chronic equipment failures in Miami's air traffic system, problems being quietly documented by air traffic controllers, July 15 - 19, 1990.
Untitled 7701 1991 East Bay Guardian (Berkeley, Calif.) N/A East Bay Guardian (Berkeley, Calif.) investigates the air-safety situation in the sky over the San Francisco Bay area; finds excessive crowding, overworked and understaffed controllers and outdated equipment, March 1991.
Untitled 7869 1991 Public Citizen Magazine N/A Public Citizen (Baltimore, Md.) reviews the airline industry and its financial troubles after a decade of deregulation; looks at the future of the U.S. airline industry, March/April 1991.
Untitled 8308 1991 Canadian Broadcasting Corp. - CBC N/A CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (Toronto) looks at the crash of a jet from Canada's largest charter airline, Nationair, in Saudi Arabia, killing all 247 passengers; finds the airline's safety and mechanical practices were frequently negligent, and that a government probe into the crash is being kept secret, Oct. 3, 1991.
Untitled 8353 1991 Now It Can Be Told N/A Now It Can Be Told reports on how pilot fatigue contributes to pilot error and accidents; pilots blame unreasonable flight schedules and inadequate federal regulations, Nov. 26, 1991.
Untitled 8374 1991 Newsday (New York) N/A New York Newsday reports that the early-model DC-9s have a design flaw that make them especially susceptible to crashing when even small amounts of ice collect on the wings; finds that many knew of the problem, but no one acted to prevent air accidents, June 23, 1991.
Untitled 9023 1992 Cleveland Plain Dealer N/A Plain Dealer (Cleveland) reveals how the Federal Aviation Administration fails to enforce licensing regulations on the crews that work on and pilot for the nation's airlines; when people are caught lying on their licensing applications by the FAA, they are given little more than a slap on the wrist, Feb. 16 - 17, 1992.
Untitled 9039 1992 KPTV-TV (Portland, Ore.) N/A KPTV-TV (Portland, Ore.) attempts to identify the man who hijacked a Northwest Airlines plane using the name D.B. Cooper, Nov. 17, 1992.
Untitled 9127 1992 Seattle Times N/A Seattle Times reports on a serious safety hazard regarding Boeing jetliners and their flawed engine mounts in the wake of a cargo plane crash in Amsterdam, Dec. 27 - 31, 1992.
Untitled 9195 1992 Post-Herald (Birmingham, Ala.) N/A Birmingham Post-Herald looks at the nation's system for searching for small planes that have crashed and finds that it has serious flaws that result in crash victims dying while waiting for help, Oct. 3 - 8, 1992.
Untitled 9231 1992 Associated Press N/A Associated Press (Sacramento, Calif.) reveals that the California Department of Forestry's air tanker program had fought forest fires with no scrutiny for two decades, and had nine crashes, killing nine pilots; safety was not a concern of the agency, August - December 1992.
Untitled 9278 1992 KMSP-TV (Minneapolis) N/A KMSP-TV (Minneapolis) finds that the air traffic control system is plagued with equipment problems, with routine instances of planes disappearing from radar screens and communications between controllers and pilots being cut off, May 18 - 20, 1992.
Untitled 10355 1992 The Seattle Times N/A The Seattle Times describes how a pin which holds jet engines on passenger plans is defective and could cause fatal wrecks; finds that the pins, which may be to blame in several wrecks already, hold the potential of vast product liability suits against Boeing Company, Dec. 27, 1992.
Untitled 10508 1993 Cleveland Plain Dealer N/A The Plain Dealer finds that the FAA misled Congress and the public about the efficiency and reliability of the Airport Surveillance Radar-9 System, which was designed to help guide passenger jets safely in and out of the nation's busiest airports. Problems with the radar system include phantom airplanes on radar screens, frequent outages and real airplanes that disappear from radar screens, Sept. 5, Aug. 25 - 26, Dec. 19, 1993.
Untitled 10522 1994 Cleveland Plain Dealer N/A Plain Dealer (Cleveland) details how power surges were repeatedly knocking out a sophisticated radar system at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, putting passengers lives at danger; finds that air traffic controllers have lost faith in the system and that official reports downplayed the real danger of the situation, Dec. 19, 1993.
Untitled 10624 1994 NBC News Dateline N/A Dateline NBC conducted a computer analysis of commuter airline safety and found widespread problems, including pilots falling asleep at the controls, and the FAA reduced the fines it imposed against commuter airlines. The series also investigated the differences in safety regulation between commuter planes and major airlines, showing how these can have an impact on safety, Nov. 15, 21, 1994.



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