This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@juno.com. F.A.A. Is Accused of Ignoring Security Lapses February 27, 2002 By PHILIP SHENON WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 - Accusations that the Federal Aviation Administration covered up and ignored security lapses at the nation's airports deserve a full investigation because they suggest a "specific and substantial danger to public safety," the director of the government's whistleblower-protection agency said today. The official, Elaine Kaplan, director of the government's Office of Special Counsel, has ordered the Transportation Department to investigate the assertions made by Bogdan Dzakovic, a member of the F.A.A.'s elite "red team" of security investigators. Mr. Dzakovic, a 14-year veteran of the F.A.A., has accused the agency's senior leaders of repeatedly ignoring the findings of the red team, which has warned for years that terrorists could easily foil security at some of the nation's largest airports. "The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 could and should have been completely avoided," Mr. Dzakovic said in a statement. The Office of Special Counsel, a little-known agency that reviews accusations made by aggrieved federal workers against the government, demands follow-up investigations less than 5 percent of the time. But Ms. Kaplan said in a telephone interview that her agency had determined that Mr. Dzakovic was "in a position to have first-hand information" about wrongdoing or incompetence at the aviation agency. "I don't want to editorialize about this," she said, noting that her agency has not made a determination on the truthfulness of the assertions. "But this is an issue that merits an investigation." The Transportation Department has 60 days to investigate and report back to Ms. Kaplan. The F.A.A. has said it cannot respond in detail to Mr. Dzakovic's accusations while they are the subject of the Transportation Department investigation. His accusations were first reported by USA Today. Laura J. Brown, an agency spokeswoman, said the F.A.A. had always acted aggressively on the findings of its red team investigators. "The weaknesses detected by red team members have been addressed," Ms. Brown said. Agency officials said Mr. Dzakovic was still employed by the agency and faced no current disciplinary actions. The red team program was created by the F.A.A. in response to the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am 747 over Scotland. The small, secretive teams travel to airports and attempt to foil their security systems - often, by trying to smuggle weapons through security screening stations. In a statement released through his lawyers at the Government Accountability Project, a Washington group that defends whistleblowers, Mr. Dzakovic said a terrorist attack like the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings had been inevitable. "The manner in which the Federal Aviation Administration failed to execute its mission to protect the flying public made it inevitable that terrorists could attack in this particularly heinous manner," Mr. Dzakovic said. "The red team consists of a very small group of people whose sole job is to fly around the world and conduct simulated attacks against the United States civil aviation industry," he said. "We were extraordinarily successful in mock-destroying aircraft and killing large numbers of innocent people in these simulated attacks. This occurred with such regularity and ease as to present a frightening picture of the sorry state of aviation security." Mr. Dzakovic is one of several current and former F.A.A. inspectors who have come forward in recent years to complain that the agency has done too little to protect travelers from a growing terrorist threat. "In 1998, the red team completed extensive testing of screening checkpoints at a large number of domestic airports," he said in his statement. "We were successful in getting major weapons - guns and bombs - through screening checkpoints with relative ease, at least 85 percent of the time in most cases. At one airport, we had a 97 percent success rate in breaching the screening checkpoint." "No action was taken to remedy this security problem and we have never been back to any airport to test security in this manner," he said. "The individuals who occupied the highest seats of authority in F.A.A. were fully aware of this highly vulnerable state of aviation security and did nothing." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/27/national/27FAA.html?ex=1015833337&ei=1&en=821ad3dfb4097a52 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company