Resource Center

Stories

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 "accidents" ...

  • HBO Real Sports: Hockey's Darkest Day

    In 2011 a plane carrying a Russian hockey team crashed shortly after takeoff--the deadliest accident in the history of professional sports. A five-month Real Sports investigation uncovered massive safety problems in the Russian hockey league. The league spent millions on player salaries but "a few bucks" on everything else--including travel. The plane that crashed was operated by a cheap, third-rate company that had been banned from flying to Europe because they had been cited so many times for major safety violations. The crew of the plane hadn't even completed their training. Our investigation showed that the lack of safety in the world’s second best hockey league—called the KHL—often extends to the ice where KHL team doctors use IV’s and drugs to get their players to perform better on the ice. One young star died after receiving an injection of banned drugs from team doctors. When it came to travel, the lack of safe conditions was nearly universal. Practically every team flew on a Soviet-era jet—jets that make up 3% of the world’s fleet but account for 42% of the world’s accidents. These jets are in such poor condition that most Russian airlines wont use them. Yet even after the crash the KHL continued to use these planes, a fact they initially denied. Shortly after we interviewed the KHL Vice President, the league changed its rules. Now teams fly strictly on modern equipment.

    Tags: Russia; Russian hockey team; plane crash; the KHL;

    By Correspondent: Bernard Goldberg; Producers: Joe Perskie; Josh Fine; Associate Producer: Nisreen Habbal; Editor: Tres Driscoll

    HBO Sports

    2012

  • The Cruelest Show on Earth

    The story documents a decade-long history of injury, illness and fatal accidents in Ringling's famed herd of performing elephants -- and the repeated failure of federal regulators to intervene.

    Tags: elephants; Animal Welfare Act; Jim Moran; exotic animals; circuses

    By Deborah Nelson

    Mother Jones

    2011

  • The Cruelest Show On Earth

    "The Cruelest Show on Earth" documents a disturbing history of injury, illness, abuse, and fatal accidents in Ringling's famed heard of performing elephants- and the chronic failure of the USDA to intervene, even at the urging of the agency's own investors.

    Tags: Circus; animal cruelty; elephants; abuse; circus; Ringling circus

    By Deborah Nelson

    Mother Jones

    2011

  • PAT Bus Investigation

    Channel 4 Action news captured Port Authority bus drivers running red lights over and over again. They also uncovered people that had been badly injured, even killed, in accidents with Port Authority buses. In just the past 3 years, Port Authority has paid out 2.8 million dollars to more than a thousand individuals who claimed they were injured or suffered damages because of Port Authority.

    Tags: Port Authorityl Buses

    By Jim Parsons; Alex Bongiozno; Michael Lazourop; Kendall Cross

    WTAE-TV (Pittsburgh)

    2011

  • Burning Questions: Arson or Accident?

    Investigation which found that insurance companies with significant financial interests in the outcome of criminal arson investigations are in fact taking the lead in such probes- with the result that property owners are accused of setting fires that are almost certainly accidents.

    Tags: Arson; Insurance Fraud

    By Dee J. Hall; Phil Brinkman

    Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)

    2011

  • Allentown Gas Explosion

    Natural gas explosion killed 5 people in Allentown, PA, destroyed a neighborhood due to a leak from an 83-year old cast-iron pipe.

    Tags: gas; explosion; accident; allentown; leak;

    By Frank Warner; Andrew McGill; Christoper Baxter; Daniel Patrick Sheehan; Arlene Martinez; Matt Assad; Manuel Gamiz Jr.; Scott Kraus; Paul Muschick; Tim Darragh; Colby Itkowitz

    The Morning Call

    2011

  • Drowning in Oil: BP and the Reckless Pursuit of Profit

    The book examines the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig accident and puts it in context of BP's failures and maintenance lapses. It reveals how BP's culture of cutting corners led to the disaster.

    Tags: BP; Deepwater Horizon; offshore rig; oil spill

    By Loren C. Steffy

    McGraw-Hill

    2010

  • Streets of Death

    The investigation shows how a lax legal system and budget issues have kept the South Korean government from effectively maintaining its Traffic Safety Law.

    Tags: traffic accidents; car accidents; traffic

    By Taehyung Kim, Jungseok Park, Jeonghwan Kim, Sekwon Jang

    KBS (Korean Broadcasting System)

    2010

  • The Blowout

    Three-and-a-half weeks after the Deepwater Horizon blowout, 60 Minutes gave an accurate depiction of what happened. Michael Williams, the rig's chief electronics technician, described key events he had witnessed in the weeks leading up to the disaster.

    Tags: Deepwater Horizon; blowout; oil rig; accident reports; oil drilling; environmental disaster

    By Scott Pelley; Michael Radutzky; Graham Messick; Solly Granatstein

    CBS News 60 Minutes

    2010

  • Crash Reports

    The reporter finds that a new district attorney chooses not to follow up on pending negligent vehicular homicide cases, thereby enabling many of the drivers to continue driving on the road.

    Tags: car accident; manslaughter; driver; district attorney; crash report

    By John Nova Lomax

    Houston Press

    2010