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 "commercial-airline" ...
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The Cuban Hijacking
Investigation of the first international hijacking of a commercial airliner from the United States.
Tags: Hijacking
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Under the Radar
Every year the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been given a grant, which then will be distributed to airports. The question is where does this money come from and how is it spent? The answer to the first half is the commercial-airline passengers, who pay the ticket taxes which in turn becomes the grant. The second part of the question is answered by not the improvement of airline travel, but rather the private pilots who fly corporate and recreational planes.
Tags: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); Federal fund; grants; airports; planes; airlines; commercial-airline; passengers; ticket taxes; pilots; private airplanes; flights
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Meet the Robinsons
The investigation found just 1 percent of commercial airlines carry armed federal air marshals, and cities most vulnerable include New York City and Washington, D.C. Air marshals who are critical of the Transportation Security Administration agreed to go on camera only in silhouette because of past retaliation by the agency - a fact well-documented in government whistle-blower reports.
Tags: Transportation Security Administration; air marshal; airline industry; Sept. 11; whistle-blower; watch list
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Airport Insecurity
KHOU-TV found that while "commercial airports all over the country had been forced to make millions of dollars in security upgrades, smaller general aviation airports remained unchanged" since 9/11. The station also found that terrorists wouldn't need to crash a plane into a building in Houston, but could do more damage by crashing it into containers of toxic chemicals.
Tags: terrorism; airports; security; toxic chemicals; terrorist attacks; Houston; commercial airlines; private planes; Texas
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Unsafe at Any Altitude
Authors Susan and Joseph Trento assert the failings of the government to protect U.S. citizens from terrorism before and after 9/11. This includes an "inept" Transportation Security Administration which is not receiving a proper no-fly list from federal agencies, relying on information from Saudi Arabia regarding al-Qaeda, and alliances with groups that are now adversaries, that helped lead to 9/11.
Tags: Terrorism; Transportation Security Administration (TSA); commercial airlines; no-fly list; a-Qaeda; Bush Administration; Sept. 11, 2001
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NWA Collision
A year of asking federal agencies for access culminated in this report, in which KSTP showed security footage of a collision between two commercial airliners at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. The Transportation Security Administration finally agreed to provide the tape after the station filed many requests and contacted members of Congress.
Tags: Airline; crash; collision; plane; Transportation Security Administration; TSA; airport
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Terminal illness
The "state-of-the-art" MidAmerica Airport, located in St. Clair County (Illinois), built in 1997, cost $300 million and was meant to be a "reliever" for St. Louis Lambert International Airport and also to feed off Scott Air Force base's needs. However different factors, including Lambert's expansion, made the investment almost useless, inasmuch it was not used by any commercial airlines. That fact was on its way to undermine a 1988 study by the Illinois Department of Transportation that predicted 2.8 million passengers would use MidAmerica Airport by 2005.
Tags: Scott Air Force Base; MidAmerica Airport; Lambert International Airport; Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); Floyd "Rick" Hargrove; St. Clair County; Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT); Military Airport Program (MAP); Leonard Griggs Regional Commerce and Growth Association (RCGA); John Baricevic; Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois; Air Line Pilots Association
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Government's kingpin-sting tactic may threaten airline safety; Yale law professor's client contends he was wrongly convicted
An investigation of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's practice of using commercial airlines to transport illegal drugs as part of undercover operations. Neither the airlines nor passengers are made aware of these stings, meaning this little-known tactic in the drug war can put passengers at risk should an operation be compromised by drug cartels or corrupt law enforcement officers.
Tags: airline safety; drugs; DEA; Steven B. Duke; FAA; kingpin sting
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1997 IRE TV Award Winners and Finalist.
The 1997 IRE TV Award Winners and Finalist tape is a compilation of 5 stories. 1.) "Blood Money," ABC News. Chilling video of the executions of Chinese prisoners and the selling of their organs to fund a profit-making organized criminal activity. See #14327. 2.) "Probable Cause," Dateline, NBC News. Systematic illegal traffic stops, brutal behavior and unfair drug seizures in Louisiana with a system where judges who decide cases benefit from ill-gotten gains and innocent citizens actually pay to go to court and get their appeals heard. See #14444. 3.) "License For Sale." KCBS, Los Angeles. An elaborate network for selling legitimate California driver licenses used for everything from getting government services to boarding commercial airlines. See # 14316. 4.) "Poor Justice? The Susan Cummings Story," KOMO, Seattle. The conviction and imprisonment of a 16-year-old girl for a murder she may not have committed. See #14305. 5.) "Military Medical Malpractice," WRAL, Raleigh N.C. Medical malpractice remains a well-kept military secret, with no one protecting millions of servicemen and women or their families from shocking standards and practices by inept doctors. See # 14287.
Tags: TAPE; crime; court; police; health care; veteran; hospital; foi; car; ire; no transcripts.
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Chronic breakdowns threaten air safety
Chronic mechanical breakdowns on commercial airliners may be putting travelers in danger by subjecting thousands of them each year to emergency landings or aborted takeoffs. The Sentinel investigation found that many of the in-flight problems are caused by the same engines, landing gears and flight controls that fail again and again for months.