{
  "id": "1994-october-faa-database-provides-quick-history",
  "slug": "1994-october-faa-database-provides-quick-history",
  "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1994-october-faa-database-provides-quick-history.html",
  "year": 1994,
  "month": "October",
  "monthNum": 10,
  "headline": "FAA database provides quick history",
  "kicker": "",
  "author_name": "Brant Houston",
  "author_title": "",
  "affiliation": "NICAR",
  "summary": "The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting provided Federal Aviation Administration data on aircraft mechanical problems to multiple news organizations following US Air Flight 427's crash, demonstrating the value of accessible databases for journalism while revealing limitations in the data itself.",
  "keywords": [
    "database",
    "aviation",
    "journalism"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Public Safety",
    "Data & Databases",
    "Investigative Methods"
  ],
  "technologies": [
    "CD-ROM"
  ],
  "full_text": "When US Air Flight 427 crashed Sept. 8, the new data library at the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting got its first emergency test. From the results, it appears the institute passed. More than a dozen news organizations, ranging from small to large, requested and received data from NICAR on mechanical problems that the Boeing 737 had experienced prior to the crash. While the data did not point to a cause, it provided context for print and broadcast journalists throughout the country. For several years, the Institute has kept Federal Aviation Administration records on service difficulty reports reports filed when an airplane experiences mechanical problems or when inspectors find problems. During the last six months the Institute has reorganized the data, which goes back to 1988, so that it is more easily accessible and can be distributed on different kinds of media. The Institute not only gets monthly updates of the data, but it also is working on a project to include data covering the 15 years prior to 1988.\n\nWhile some news organizations have purchased the data themselves, and others have accessed the data through commercial vendors online, many journalists still seek the data from NICAR. This includes those who can't afford or do not have access to commercial databases, want the data in a form in which they can do wider searches or want to work with NICAR to understand the data better. After the crash, NICAR staffer Drew Sullivan, with the help of graduate student Padraic Cassidy, fielded calls from such organizations as WDIV-TV in Detroit, the Beaver County Times in Pennsylvania and the Chicago Sun-Times. Other organizations - The Boston Globe and WCCO-TV in Minneapolis had already purchased a CD-ROM from NICAR that contains the FAA database and did their searches on those CD-ROMs. The service difficulty reports are not without flaws. After all, every database has imperfections and is often only a starting point for a story. In fact, Cox Newspapers began a database analysis that ended up as a story that revealed shortcomings with the data and the inspection system. Larry Lipman, a reporter in the Cox Newspapers' Washington, D.C., bureau, worked with Elliot Jaspin (former director of the Institute and now at Cox) on the stories. He said Cox used the FAA data effectively for a story on service difficulty reports. Then, they started an overall story using the data for safety comparisons within the industry.\n\nWhen they began doing interviews on their findings, however, air safety experts warned them off their conclusion that 737s had a high rate of problems.\n\n\"Everybody told us not to use the numbers,\" said Lipman, who writes for the Palm Beach Post.\n\nNonetheless, Lipman said the data was useful in the initial story and led Cox to their critical review of the inspection and report system.\n\n\"Service Difficulty Reporting is uneven,\" NICAR's Sullivan said. \"Airlines do most of the reporting themselves and government oversight has been diluted. But overall, for a particular airplane, it is a valuable insight into the plane's repair history.\"\n\nUsing the database itself can be tricky. A first search usually is based on the tail number of the plane. But the tail number can change. So, during the first search, you must note the serial number of the plane and do a second search.\n\nSullivan compares the tail number to a car's license plate and the plane's serial number to a car's vehicle identification number. In the case of flight 427, NICAR's on-the-road trainer Jennifer Fleur (who happened to be doing a seminar in Harrisburg, Pa.) alerted Sullivan to the crash and later supplied the tail number.\n\nSullivan turned up 26 service difficulty reports based on the tail number and a 27th report based on the serial number. Each report has a severity rating, ranging from 1 (low) to 5 (high). Of the 27 reports, two were in the serious categories: a faulty fuel valve and a blown tire.\n\nThe FAA database has about 30 fields and 10 pages of codes. NICAR charges about $20 for a search and can send data for a particular plane by electronic mail or other online services such as the Internet, by fax, or by diskette. The CD-Rom for 1988 to present is $125 and NICAR hopes to have a file transfer site running soon for updates.\n\nNICAR also has a database on pilot licenses and a database on aircraft registration.",
  "provenance": {
    "extracted_by": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "extracted_at": "2026-07-05",
    "verified": true
  },
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  "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1994-october-faa-database-provides-quick-history.html",
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}