Dzakovic

        If Bogdan Dzakovic wanted, he could be one of the most dangerous men in the world. Given the right materials, this mild-mannered, bespectacled Cincinnati native and LaSalle High School graduate could probably take down just about any airliner, anywhere, any time.

        “I was paid by Uncle Sam to be a terrorist, and I don't do anything half (way),” said Mr. Dzakovic, leader of the Federal Aviation Administration's Red Team, the undercover squad that tests security at airports throughout the United States and around the world.

        Late last month, Mr. Dzakovic, known as John while growing up in Over-the-Rhine and Mount Airy, filed a federal whistleblower complaint and went public with what he says is the FAA's “blatant cover-up” of aviation security lapses that were apparent well before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

        The issue gained renewed importance Monday, with USA Today reporting that security inspectors had continued to find holes at airport screening stations since Sept. 11. The paper obtained an internal memo that stated that during inspections of 32 U.S. airports, inspectors were able to sneak knives through security 70 percent of the time, guns made it through 30 percent of the time and screeners caught only 40 percent of fake bombs.

        Officials at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport said they had not seen the report. Airport spokesman Ted Bushelman said that “we think we would have been told if we had been tested, and we haven't.”

        The results outlined in the new memo are in line with what Mr. Dzakovic claims was the case prior to Sept. 11.

        “I joined the FAA to fight terrorism, but little did I know that I would be fighting the FAA and not terrorism,” said Mr. Dzakovic, 47, who is now based in Washington.

        “I realized early on, like in 1995, that the system wasn't working and I tried to work behind the scenes, and I went to the Department of Transportation's inspector general,” he said. “And he told me that unless I brought him a smoking gun or a dead body, I couldn't get anywhere.”

        The complaint does not lay out potential remedies for the problems Mr. Dzakovic sees. In the complaint, he says the agency continually ignored his findings, and that he was occasionally instructed to tone down his tests, which included trying to sneak fake bombs and guns through security checkpoints and onto planes in checked baggage.

        He also says that supervisors told him not to file reports on certain incidents, for fear of making airlines or individual airports look bad.

        Mr. Dzakovic has since been reassigned to the Transportation Security Administration, the new agency created to oversee airline and airport security, although he says he has not conducted any tests personally since Sept. 11.

        Whistleblower protection prevents his employers from firing or otherwise disciplining him for speaking out.

        TSA spokesman Paul Turk would not comment on Mr. Dzakovic's specific claims.

        “The Red Team's pointed out what problems they saw, but until recently, they were not asked to address solutions as well,” Mr. Turk said. “So they have no way of knowing what corrections have been taken.”

        Mr. Dzakovic said he decided to go public soon after Sept. 11, a process that took several months. “I couldn't live with myself unless I took this step,” he said.

Inspector finds plenty of security breaches

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