Israeli security expert hired
2 other specialists to join Massport

By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff, 10/19/2001

The recently retired security chief of Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport, widely
viewed as the world's safest, will arrive in Boston today to help defend
Logan Airport against the threat of terrorism.

Raphael ''Rafi'' Ron, who retired Oct. 1 after five years protecting Tel
Aviv's airport, will be joined by two other counter-terrorism and security
specialists to begin a three-month process of scrutinizing Logan's
terminals, training employees, and eyeing procedures.

The trio, hired as consultants, are part of a sweeping campaign by Massport
to vastly improve security at the airport where hijackers boarded two
flights that they commandeered and flew into the World Trade Center.

Reached yesterday in Atlanta, where he was about to receive an award for his
work in aviation security, Ron said he will bring ''a fresh approach'' to
security at Logan, which he said bears little resemblance to his former
workplace.

''I've been through the airport in the past, and I must say, I never looked
at it from a professional point of view for the simple reason that, to be
politically incorrect, it was not near the standards that we have exercised
in Israel,'' Ron said. ''But the present is different. We are all in the
same boat now.''

Logan, where 10 hijackers boarded two jets on Sept. 11 without ever showing
up on videotape, will also install closed-circuit video cameras at all 16
security checkpoints by year's end, said Virginia Buckingham, Massport's
executive director.

In addition, Buckingham said the authority is working with two Massachusetts
firms to make Logan the first airport in the nation to utilize ''facial
recognition'' computers that could scan passengers' faces to pick out those
on FBI watch lists.

The Federal Aviation Administration must approve such a system, which
received wide publicity when it was used at January's Super Bowl in Tampa,
Fla.

Also, plainclothes State Police will begin a series of security tests today
at all checkpoints, in an effort to bolster testing already in place by
airlines and the FAA. The tests will consist of officers passing through
security with various banned weapons, said Thomas Kinton, the airport's
director.

Part of $20 million earmarked for security since the September attacks, the
hirings, purchases, and tests arrive as Massport's board of directors is
considering slashing hundreds of millions of dollars from its ambitious
Logan modernization plan, which is about halfway done.

Yesterday, the authority's director of capital programs, Chris Gordon,
recommended that the board delay $280 million in building projects over the
next 18 months, including the long-awaited upgrade of Terminal B, the
building of a new cruise-ship terminal, and most work at Hanscom Field in
Bedford.

The point, Buckingham said, was crystal clear: since Sept. 11, security is
the authority's overriding focus.

Massport, she said, ''took some major steps forward on our effort to make
Logan Airport the most secure in the nation, and specifically, on approving
some infrastructure investment projects and also making sure that we had
internationally recognized experts in the field who are now lending us their
expertise.''

Ron, who started in aviation security in 1970 as one of the world's first
sky marshals - for the Israeli airline El Al - will be joined by Len Limmer,
who until 1998 directed public safety and several other departments at
Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world.

The third expert is Jeffrey Beatty, a former US Army Delta Force officer,
special agent for the FBI, and operations officer for the CIA. This week,
Beatty will begin training 400 to 600 employees who work at Logan, including
those not hired by Massport, to better equip them to spot suspicious people
or objects, Kinton said. Beatty was hired last month to do the same for the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Ron and Limmer will spend the next three months identifying any weaknesses
in security procedures at Logan that Massport can address without running
afoul of the FAA, which controls many aspects of security at the nation's
airports.

Massport is also considering using their expertise at other state
facilities, such as Worcester Airport and Hanscom. The amount the state will
pay the consultants has yet to be finalized.

The agency is in the midst of a nationwide search for a permanent airport
security director.

Massport also will examine construction plans for several major projects
that are either planned or underway to ensure the new buildings and
structures meet safety needs. Included will be the $550 million overhaul of
Terminal A, which the Massport board voted yesterday to move forward with,
despite the agency's financial straits.

A $7.5 million federal grant will fund much of Massport's spending on
beefed-up security, Buckingham said. The authority will match the grant with
$2.5 million of its own. She also expressed confidence that further
purchases, such as the facial recognition system, would also attract federal
funding.

Ron, whose new company is called New Age Aviation Security, is also being
courted by other major airports in the United States, where he had planned
to work as a consultant before Sept. 11, but is now in demand in ways he
never foresaw.

About 10 million passengers a year use Ben-Gurion Airport, less than half
the number who fly through Logan, but Ron said his expertise will
nevertheless come in handy.

''I feel like one who came back from the front with tales to tell,'' Ron
said. ''I spent most of my life in security, and I was looking for another
front on which to fight. It's funny; I was just joking the other day that
life in Ben-Gurion is like a dog's life. Each year counts for seven.''

This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 10/19/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
==========
**NOTICE: In accordance with 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.**
==========