Former Red Team Leader and prominent, federal whistleblower Bogdan Dzakovic is testifying today in Washington, D.C. on a panel regarding aviation matters. The Government Accountability Project, GAP, is hosting the panel as part of its Whistleblower Week.

GAP handles Dzakovic's case which alleges that TSA is failing in its duties to safeguard the flying public.

GAP submitted papers this morning, on Dzakovic's behalf, to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) — an office fully embroiled in its own, obstruction of justice and corruption charges trouble. (Last week, FBI agents raided the home and office of OSC chief Scott Bloch in an attempt to prevent Bloch from destroying further evidence from his computer.) In 2003, the Office of Special Counsel praised Dzakovic for his work, noting that the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation had independently verified his allegations, much of which centered on the gross mismanagement of the the undercover Red Team program.

Dzakovic, who worked for FAA before 9/11 and has worked for the TSA since, alleges in today's filing that TSA has not fixed any of the glaring, bureaucratic problems that failed to prevent the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Dzakovic outlined these failures in a lengthy, government report. 

Dzakovic's lawyer, Tom Devine, told New Jersey's The Star-Ledger:

"Not only was [Bogdan Dzakovic's] report ignored, but Bogdan became persona non grata for any work related to airline security," Devine said.

In papers submitted to the Government Accountability Project, Dzakovic wrote that "the gist of my report…is that all these technological 'layers' of security that FAA espoused can be fairly easily circumvented by would-be attackers; and that TSA is basically doing the exact same thing as the FAA before it.

"But rather than learn from the past, hold people accountable and fix the bureaucratic problems which contributed to the ease with which the terrorist(s) succeeded on 9/11, TSA plunged the roller coaster of security to new depths," he wrote.

Ron Marisco's article on the subject can be read here.  

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Of the 450,000 names on the terrorist watch list, 22,500 of these people — deemed too dangerous to fly — are believed to be in the United States. Audrey Hudson reports for The Washington Times:

Since last year, the Homeland Security Department has received nearly 24,000 requests to be removed from the terrorist watch list now estimated to contain 450,000 names — 5 percent or 22,500 are thought to be in the United States.

Some individuals use aliases or fake passports that can generate multiple records, and officials think it creates twice the number of actual persons on the watch list.

Others, like Sr. Ted Kennedy, who have been put on the list in error, are being removed.

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UPDATE:10:20 a.m. PST: Inside Kevin Brown's bag, "federal agents found two bottles filled with nitro-methane, a highly explosive liquid," according to Orlando news station WESH-2. And according to an affidavit, Brown told the FBI he wanted to build pipe bombs like he built in Iraq. The FBI has not yet determined if Brown ever served in Iraq. But soldiers don't build pipe bombs, insurgents do. 

Who is Kevin Brown and what was he doing with what appears to be a pipe bomb in the making at Orlando International Airport yesterday?

Federal behavioral specialists spotted Kevin Brown acting suspiciously around noon in the ticketing area.

A search of his luggage revealed two galvanized pipes, end caps, two small containers carrying BBs, batteries, two containers with an unknown liquid, and bomb making literature, according to an FBI statement.

Brown, a Jamaican national, planned to board a flight to Jamaica. It wasn't immediately what the FBI charged him with. A voicemail for an FBI spokesman was full.

This morning, U.S. attorneys asked a federal judge for more time to prepare for Brown's hearing, originally scheduled for Thursday.

CNN reports that Brown has been living in the U.S. with a valid green card. He is currently being held by federal authorities without bond. 

TSA agents spotted the man acting suspiciously and put him under surveillance, according to the TSA's largely unreliable blog.

This is not the first time Orlando Airport has been in the aviation security news. In September 2007, a large group of Middle Eastern passengers set off mechanical alarms and alerted a canine unit after their personal items allegedly tested positive for SEMTEX explosives. TSA confirmed the incident with me in an interview, but would not confirm the explosive material. The passengers were later cleared to fly.

In March 2007, two Comair airline employees at the Orlando Airport were arrested after using their airport security badges to smuggle weapons and drugs onto a passenger flight headed for San Juan, Puerto Rico. The weapons and drugs amounted to 13 guns, an assault rifle and 8 pounds of marijuana transported in a carry-on duffel bag. As a result of this security gap being exposed, the TSA is now running a pilot program, out of Logan Airport in Boston, to screen all airport employees. 

(photo credit: Associated Press) 

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A man carrying two backpacks scaled a perimeter fence at London's Heathrow Airport earlier today, "sprinted onto the runway" and ran towards a plane triggering a major security alert. He was tackled by airport police and arrested. Agence France-Presse has more:

"A man ran towards an Emirates flight," a police spokeswoman told AFP, as television pictures showed police vehicles scrambling to deal with the situation. "He has been removed. We believe he was acting alone." 

And from the BBC: 

Up to 20 emergency services vehicles were reported to have been sent to the scene. The rucksack was recovered and explosives officers called in as a precaution.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "A man was arrested and is currently in custody. A bag has been recovered." 

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Faid Beydoun, a man with multiple passports including one from Lebanon, leapt off a second-floor Concourse at Miami Airport yesterday, falling 25-feet and breaking his arm and ribs — as he fled from law enforcement after TSA officers became suspicious of him. 

In an interview yesterday with TSA Headquarters, Spokesman Christopher White told me, "Our behavior detection officers spotted him [Beydoun] acting suspiciously and continued watching him. He engaged a TSA Travel Document Checker who observed that he had multiple travel documents that did not match. That added up to additional screening for him. Instead, he fled."

From the Miami Herald:

''He bolted and knocked a few people out of the way, '' said Mark O. Hatfield Jr., TSA's airport security director.

Chased by Miami-Dade officers, the man jumped over the second-floor departure concourse and landed outside the baggage-claim area. Despite the broken bones, he ran a bit further.

The officers on the first floor were able to apprehend him and place him under arrest,'' said Miami-Dade Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman. He was whisked away to the jail ward at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where on Monday night he was being questioned by local, state and federal investigators.

Two other men, also headed to Los Angeles, were taken off a later flight still on the tarmac. They told investigators they had paid for the man's plane ticket and that he was their Miami Beach party guide.

The Herald also reports:

His jail record lists an alias: Miguel Garcia.  

Which brings to mind something I reported on two weeks ago,  3 Afghans Arrested At Indian Airport with Mexican Passports.

Local News 10 in South Florida reports that according to the police report, Faid Beydoun "had a half-gram of cocaine in his luggage."  

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21-year old Benjamin Baines, Jr. was arrested on Sunday at Tampa International Airport after a TSA screener found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book in his backpack. The photograph at right was provided by the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority.

According to a report from the TSA, the books in Baines' backpack included "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an."  

Thomas W. Krause of The Tampa Tribune broke the story this morning. "Airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.'s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter." 

Baines told federal authorities he forgot the box cutter was in the book.  

"After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book. Later, reports state, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates.

Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book."

According to the Tribune, Baines was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and is in a local jail. The FBI is investigating. 

Correction 2.21.08: This story was first reported by Steve Huettel of The St. Petersburg Times: TIA Finds Cutter Hidden in Book. Huettel reports further in Box Cutter Suspect Faces Federal Charge.

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Three Afghan nationals are being held in New Delhi, India after they tried boarding a flight to France, via Kuwait, using Mexican passsports identifying themselves as:

Antonio Lopez Juan (42)

Javier Sanchez Alberto (20)

Atonio Lopez Ernesto (16)

According to Indian press reports, the three men departed from Nedumbaserry Airport in India, on February 11, without incident. When they arrived in Kuwait, emigration officials found them suspicious because they did not speak any Spanish. They were deported back to India. 

The three had reportedly arrived in New Delhi on January 23 this year, as per the stamps on their passports. However, there was some doubt about the authenticity of the arrival stamps on the passports. 

Officials in India said the Mexican Embassy in New Delhi is involved. 

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A Somali woman stormed the cockpit of an Air New Zealand propeller plane in New Zealand earlier today, stabbed both pilots and threatened to blow up the nineteen-seat aircraft. Reuters reports that she was at the controls of the plane before she was subdued. The flight landed safely and the woman is in custody. From the Associated Press:

"None of the seven passengers were injured, but the pilot suffered a severely cut hand in the attack and the co-pilot was injured on the foot. Police did not say who restrained the woman aboard the flight."

Air New Zealand general manager Bruce Parton says the airline is reviewing its passenger security system. In New Zealand, passengers generally do not undergo security when flying domestically.

(photo credit: REUTERS/Stringer) 

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