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 "plane crash" ...
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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;
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Blackwater 61
The story investigates the plane crash that killed six people in Afghanistan, including three American servicemen. The flight should have been routine, even insignificant. A cockpit voice recorded revealed incompetence among the pilots involved.
Tags: plane crash; soldier; Afghanistan; Blackwater; Blackwater 61
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"33 Minutes to 34 Right"
When Continental Flight 1404 crashed during its landing at the Denver International Airport, it took ambulance responses teams 33 minutes to reach the crash site. KMGH-TV's investigation reveals critical problems with Denver's ambulance system and dispatch center, as well as with the city's overall preparedness for emergency response.
Tags: Denver International Airport; Continental Flight 1404; Denver Health Medical Center; plane crash
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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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Doubts About Cassey
Over the course of a decade, AIDS activist Cassey Weierbach told her tragic story of contracting HIV from a man who raped her. The local people in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley helped her when she needed it, as they "held her hand when she was laid up in a hospital bed. They’ve cooked her meals and done her laundry. They’ve passed the plate for her on Sunday and paid her rent when it was overdue." But a pastor revealed her accusation that Weierbach did not have AIDS, and was deceiving everyone. Others questioned the veracity of Weierbach's story, as it also included details of a best friend, the alleged rapist's daughter and also a rape victim of the same man, shooting herself in front of Weierbach. Weierbach also claimed her father died in a famous plane crash. Both individuals were still alive and well, and quoted for the story. The Morning Call tells the story of a community and a woman who may or may not have been telling the truth about an affliction with a terrible disease. In the wake of the story, Weierbach was charged with defrauding the state of $67,000 worth of medical benefits.
Tags: AIDS; HIV; Munchausen syndrome; fake illness; fraud; medical fraud
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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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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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Fatal Flight - The Mystery at Marlboro Airport
Seven years after a seemingly accidental private airplane crash, the Asbury Park Press found evidence that forced the reopening of the federal investigation. The original NTSB investigation of a fatal 1998 plane crash in Marlboro Township, New Jersey, determined that the accident was caused by a bird strike, but the Asbury Park Press consulted experts who determined that sabotage was the most likely cause. The pilot, who died in the crash, had previously testified in a lawsuit that he suspected his planes were being sabotaged. A disputed land deal involving the township's airport provided a motive for murder.
Tags: airports; aviation; airplanes; murder; sabotage; plane crashes; lawsuits; NTSB; bribes
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Craft had history of problems
This same-day story notes the record of equipment defects for a DC-9 cargo plane that crashed during takeoff. A review of 32 FAA Service Difficulty Reports on the plane filed by its operator noted landing gear malfunctions, cracks and corrosion in the plane structure, and loose, cracked, stripped or frozen parts in the landing gear door, cabin and cargo doors.
Tags: airplanes; Federal Aviation Authority; FAA; Service Difficulty Reports; airports
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US Air Crash Shatters "Normal" Lives
This is a whole group of stories about a plane crash. It covers the basics of what happened, causes for the crash, rescue efforts and personal stories of people who were affected.
Tags: disaster reporting; Hopkins International Airport; Fokker F-28