I think the big question here is, how the hell the story made it to the newsreader and why the newsreader was so bloody stupid as to read it.
One glance is enough to realise it was a load of old crap so that either leaves uneducated idiots or mindless idiots at the TV station.
As I understand it (And I could be wrong so, if you know better, say so), the news team rang the NTSB for confirmation of the names the team had picked up from the internet.
A kid who was working there for the summer probably heard the names being read out and, thinking no one would be stupid enough to actually believe it, said, "Yes, that's right".
I'm guessing sarcasm went over the head of the stupid.
As for sackings:
Anyone in the news team who had anything to do with the story because they were bloody idiots
The intern because he should have realised the potential stupidity of anyone who would call an official agency regarding a major story but with such a ******* silly question.