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-traffic controllers" ...
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Sabotaging the System
This story includes the “first confirmed account of a successful cyber attack against an electric utility company, resulting in major blackouts that lasted for days”. The electric grid not only supplies electricity but also keeps water, telephones, trains, and air traffic control up and running. Also in the U.S., government agencies, defense contractors, and banks are hacked everyday by foreign spy agencies.
Tags: National Intelligence; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); cyber security; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); computers; technology
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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 safety issues
Air Safety Issues is a six-part series that covers everything from a tragic crash caused by air controller error to outsourcing issues regarding maintenance of commercial aircraft.
Tags: Air safety; air traffic controller; controller error; flight records; flight path; Lindberg field; Controller shortages; maintenance; FOIA; Southern California airspace
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The Georgian Air Navigation
Rustavi2's investigation of the Georgian Air Navigation revealed the organization's inefficient management tactics. Lack of knowledge and experience in managing the navigation system would risk passengers' lives.
Tags: Air Traffic Control; deputy executive director Valeri Voloshin; European Civil Aviation Conference; Giorgi Karbelashvili; Georgian Air Navigation
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Overbooked: A Crush of Air Traffic, Control-System Quirks Jam the Flight Lanes. Trying to dodge congestion, carriers often ask FAA for alternative routes. A mighty delay in Chicago.
This article explains problems with the FAA and airports. Topics include: too many planes, ground stop, it's the FAA, on the tarmac, and bad weather. The article also includes a graphic which describes what causes a plane to be late or delayed.
Tags: airports; planes; airplanes; flight delays; FAA; Federal Aviation Administration; problems; flights
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Slam and Jam
The Atlantic Monthly reports on the nation's air-traffic-control system. "For all the reports of equipment failures and "close calls" and controller burnout, the nation's air-traffic control system is in fact far less precarious, in terms of safety, than people imagine it to be. The real threat to the system's integrity has as yet received little attention.... Renegade slowdowns deliver a clear threat within the agency, yet a threat so technical that it remains invisible to the outside world." The story finds that "many of the public concerns about air-traffic control -- that the equipment is dangerously old, that safety is compromised, that poorly monitored aircraft threaten to collide in midair -- are largely unwarranted."
Tags: Newark International Airport; LaGuardia; JFK; aviation; Lufthansa; United Airlines; Continental; hubs; FAA; unions
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Four Hours of Fear: 9/11's Untold Story; Amid terror, a drastic decision: Clear the Skies
USA Today explains how the nation's aviation system was able to land nearly 4,500 planes on Sept. 11 when the call went out to clear the skies following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The story shows scenes in air traffic control rooms across the country, and illustrates how the FAA was able to execute the historic order.
Tags: air traffic control; Sept. 11; history; clear the skies; FAA; planes; airports; airlines; American; United; safety; terrorism; prevention; World Trade Center; Pentagon
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From the Tower, Voices From the Sky
A two-part ABC News investigation attempts to find a fresh angle to the story of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The first report tells what happened through the eyes of the air traffic controllers at Dulles International Airport. One of the findings is that American 11 that crashed into the Pentagon had most probably targeted the White House at first but the terrorists could not see it well because the sun was in their eyes. The second part broadcasts "the actual sound of hijackers storming the cockpit" of United 93 which crashed into a Pennsylvania field.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Sept. 11; pilots; hijackers; airlines; World Trade Center; Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
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Lost Horizons: Small Airports Covet Cheap Radar System, But the FAA Bars It
The Wall Street Journal looks at aviation safety problems related to the lack of radar screens at small airports. The story points to three midair collisions that occurred in year 2000 because of the lack of "one of the simplest and oldest air-traffic-control tools." The article cites Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) statistics showing that across the country, 90 busy airports are in need of radar, and examines the advantages and disadvantages of the two main available radar systems - Tardis and Raytheon.
Tags: National Transportation Safety Board; airports; airplanes; flights; controllers; Cessna; Raytheon system; control towers; technology; Tardis system
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Investigative Reporting Finalists
The Goldsmith Prize awards a $25,000 annual prize for reporting that best promotes more effective and ethical conduct of government, the making of public policy, or the practice of politics. The five finalists for 1996 were "The F.A.A., USAir and the ATR Turbo Prop Planes," "Military Secrets," "Prisoners On Payroll," "Honduras," "Who Owns The Law? West Publishing and the Courts," and "Profits From Pain." The stories come from the New York Times, Dayton Daily News, Baltimore Sun, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Sun-Sentinel.
Tags: Goldsmith Prize; Federal Aviation Administration; airplane safety; air traffic control; airplane inspection; airplane accidents; military secrets; sexual assault; military judicial system; Tailhook; military pay; Honduras; CIA; West Publishing; judicial bribes; Supreme Court; judicial ethics; HMOs