$1 million bomb detectors were foiled; agent says airport security 'frightening'

WASHINGTON — The $1 million machines the government plans to deploy by the hundreds to scan airline baggage for bombs have been foiled repeatedly by undercover teams simulating terrorists, a veteran federal agent charged yesterday.
"We were extraordinarily successful in mock-destroying aircraft and killing large numbers of innocent people in ... simulated attacks," said Bogdan Dzakovic, supervisor of a special Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) team that tested airport security. "This occurred with such regularity and ease as to present a frightening picture of the sorry state of aviation security on a worldwide basis. This was all before 9-11."

These and other public allegations by Dzakovic, a former air marshal and 14-year FAA security veteran who now works for the newly created Transportation Security Administration (TSA), raise questions about the government's effort to ensure by the end of the year that all checked bags are screened effectively for hidden bombs. The charges also provide a glimpse of the highly secretive manner in which plainclothes agents test the nation's aviation-security system.