Centerpieces

One of the country's best investigative reporters, KCNC's Brian Maass, has broken another big story. This time, Maass shows how the company that has contracts to de-ice aircraft in 12 cities and foreign countries fed test answers to applicants who have to be certified before working on the planes. You will see in the Denver station's video that the trainer gives answer after answer to applicants in two different training sessions taped a month apart.

Is this a big deal? You bet it is. The Federal Aviation Administration says since 1993, 135 airplanes have crashed and 171 people have died because the planes were not properly de-iced.

I like how KCNC includes big chunks of raw video on the station's Web site so you can see that the alarming soundbites used in the story were not out of context. What a smart way to use raw video online.

 

I interviewed Maass by e-mail about the project.

Q: How did you hear about this story?

A: I was contacted by a highly credible, reliable source who I have known for about 10 years. He had been hired on as a de-icer and went through the training and "testing." He called me immediately after the class to let me know what was going on. He was pretty disgusted by what he had experienced. He said his first thought -- after getting over the initial shock -- was to give me a call.

 

Covalli Photography/KCNC Brian Maass

A: In applying for a de-icing job, we knew we couldn't lie -- about anything. So on every application, every form, our staff member was honest. He was also instructed to answer any questions from the company truthfully. It was a plus that the de-icing company never asked him any questions about himself, never really interviewed him, or even bothered to call his references or his current employer, which seems to show some other gaps in their processes. He only had to pass a drug test and criminal background check to get the job.

We also had to consider liability issues. What would our guy do during "on the job"/practical training when he actually had to go up in a cherry picker/bucket and practice de-icing? What if he damaged their equipment or hurt someone? We talked to our lawyers about how to deal with these scenarios.

We also had to plan ahead for various eventualities. We made the decision our employee would never respond when he was actually called for a de-icing "event." He would only go through the entire training process so we could see what it consisted of, then our participation would end.

So we had decided he would never do any real de-icing, would never get close to a plane. We also had to decide how to handle his airport security badge, which he received during the process. After seeing the tape, the de-icing company requested we return the badge, which we will do.
 
Q: I can imagine you worried that some of these unqualified workers might be needed to de-ice planes even before you aired the story. Did you alert anybody soon after discovering the problem?

A: As soon as things were buttoned up and we knew there was no more training for our employee, and that he was "certified" to de-ice planes, I contacted the company that day. Their VP initially told me we were hearing "garbage" from a "disgruntled employee" and that the company never gives out test answers, that everyone has to pass or fail legitimate tests on their own. That was when I told him about the undercover videotape. Things got very quiet. So we did notify Servisair as soon as we could. The Vice President arranged to fly into Denver about a week later and view our tape and do an interview.

We were fortunate that during the time we were undercover, and going through the hiring and training process, we were in an unseasonably warm spell for an extended period of time. There were no vicious storms and not much de-icing to worry about. But we had plenty of discussions about weather forecasts and what was coming.

 

A: Servisair is a worldwide company, de-icing in 12 U.S. cities, Europe and Canada. They also provide other ground services -- baggage handling, snow removal, passenger assistance at airports around the world. In short order, the company says it contacted all of its other U.S. de-icing operations to let them know what had been discovered in Denver and to make sure the same thing was not occuring at other airports. Executives say they told their other airport operations they have a "zero tolerance policy" for cheating or taking shortcuts.

This was also a very big issue for the airlines that contract with this company. Technically, the FAA can punish airlines for using a contractor that is not playing by the rules. As soon as we finished showing our tape to Frontier Airlines, they literally walked out of the room and called the FAA.

Q: Why did you put the raw video on the Web?

 

A: Transparency. I didn't want to be accused of taking any tape out of context or distorting anything that occurred in the classroom. I figured showing as much raw video as possible would address those concerns. Plus it gives the public as clear a view as possible of precisely what was going on in the classroom.

Q: What lessons did you learn along the way that other journalists could benefit from?

 

A: It reinforced some basic investigative theory: Take important parts of the investigation as far as possible before calling it a day. Always try to think about what the guy on the other side of the table -- the target -- is going to say. 

KCNC 4 Denver

After getting the undercover videotape, I had to make sure we did not pull out, even though it seemed like we "had the goods." My feeling was we had to keep our employee in the process, until he was actually told, on tape, he was a certified de-icer. Pulling out before that could have allowed the company an "out," a chance to say, "Well, there was more training your guy missed." It could have really blown up the story if we pulled the plug too soon. I was insistent that we stay in it until the company made it clear on tape our employee was now a de-icer. It involved more time and resources and slowed things down a bit, but taking it that extra step wrapped things up neatly, plus gave us a great ending bite: "You're all legal now."
 
Always try to get more than you can ever imagine needing. It can't hurt. We had a second de-icer who was in a different class on tape, corroborating what we found. But since he was a silhouette interview, I wanted to put as many people as possible into the de-icing process so we could really see if what we caught was the rule or the exception. I wanted as much as I could possibly get. I figured more experiences could establish this as a pattern.

We had a second CBS4 employee begin the hiring process, but that didn't really pan out. Still, with our undercover producer's experiences, the second silhouette interview, and the tape, we had pretty conclusive proof of how they were doing business.

Q: What was the fallout from this story? What changed?

A: Servisair, the de-icing company, took pretty quick action. After hearing about the videotape, they ordered all 500 of their Denver de-icers back to the classroom for mandatory re-training and re-testing. They fired the trainer we caught giving answers and say they have disciplined others, but won't provide details. They also made all their employees return for required driver training, which many never received.

Before we aired, the FAA had already begun investigating since they had already heard what we had. Same for Denver airport administrators -- after seeing our tapes they began a pretty thorough investigation before we broadcast anything.

More broadly, it would be nice to think that other companies that might be engaging in deceptive or unethical practices would come correct, knowing that the media might be closely watching what they're doing. Or not doing.