Barbara Bonn Powell felt the massive blast as she left the World Trade Center aboard a PATH train on Feb. 26, 1993,
not knowing until she arrived uptown that it was a terrorist attack. Eight years later, the government lawyer was back at
the complex, preparing a case, when the first plane struck on 9/11. This time she witnessed the carnage of another
assault on the Trade Center.
Months later, with renewed purpose, Bonn Powell left a new job with a private law firm and joined the U.S. Transportation
Security Administration, the fledgling agency created by Congress to beef up lax security standards at the nation's airports.
"I'm a two-time Trade Center survivor," said Bonn Powell, 43, named last month to the TSA's top security post at Newark
Liberty International Airport after serving in an acting position since August.
"There was, you know, survivor's guilt," she continued. "And so I wondered for a really long time why it was that I walked
away -- not once, but twice. ... When I got the call to come to TSA, I thought this is something that I can do -- whatever
small part -- to see that it doesn't happen again."
Newark Liberty forever will be known as one of the three airports terrorists used to board flights on Sept. 11, 2001.
United Flight 93, bound from Newark to San Francisco, later crashed into a Pennsylvania field as passengers tried to
retake the hijacked plane.
Soon after, private-contract screeners were replaced nationally by more than 40,000 federalized screeners, whose pay
and training were significantly upgraded. Critics, however, contend their performance remains substandard.
"I want these (TSA screeners) to be known for the good work that they do on a daily basis," said Bonn Powell. "My goal
is to ensure that everybody has the skills they need to get the job done, so that things don't get through. So that people
know ... Newark is a safe place to travel."
Bonn Powell oversees a work force of 1,214 -- nearly a third of whom are part time -- and earns up to $186,600 a year.
Her staff is ultimately responsible for screening more than half the roughly 36 million people who use Newark Liberty
annually. She is the TSA's third federal security director at Newark Liberty, replacing Mark Hatfield Jr., who took a similar
job in Miami, and Marcus Arroyo, ousted in March 2006 after security lapses plagued the hub.
TSA officials at Newark missed deadlines for 100 percent electronic screening of checked luggage and let a test go awry
in December 2004, allowing a fake bomb onto a plane to Amsterdam. As recently as October 2006, screeners missed
20 of 22 explosives and weapons undercover agents attempted to sneak through during covert testing, according to
individuals familiar with the results.
AN EYE ON TRAINING
Powell said she is emphasizing training beyond TSA's base standards, noting that special training checkpoint lanes
have been set up for supervisory staff so they can provide better oversight of screeners. Such initiatives, she said, will
help keep the entire staff sharp for annual recertification tests.
"We need to work to the standard every day, rather than training to the test on an annual basis," said Bonn Powell. "And
I think that's for two reasons. One, the obvious, and that is the security of the American public depends on it. But two,
there's so much angst over that annual certification process."
Bonn Powell, who lives in Middletown with her husband, Bill, is a native of Pittsburgh and received her law degree from
the University of Pittsburgh in 1991.
She was a lawyer from 1992 to 1998 with the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, helping to root out shipping
industry corruption. In 1998 she became counsel to the New York field division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms, based at the World Trade Center complex. She then spent four months at a private firm before coming
to the TSA in 2002. She rose quickly from TSA attorney to deputy director at Newark Liberty.
Hatfield, Bonn Powell's predecessor, offered praise.
"Barbara has the book smarts and the operational know-how to be a very effective leader for Newark," he said. "Her
passion for the mission and dedication to our officers is a good barometer for TSA success at this world airport."
While some TSA critics insist such jobs should only go to those with deep security backgrounds, Charles Slepian, an
aviation security consultant with the New York-based Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center, disagreed.
"She knows the problems of the airport," said Slepian. "She knows the limits of her role and probably knows what she
can do. ... She's probably as good as you're going to get."
Bonn Powell mentioned a sign on her office door, which reads: "I don't have to have the answer. I surround myself with
people who like to solve problems."
But she also considers her years at the Waterfront Commission and ATF as security-related field experience.
"I've been involved with the agents when they're planning how they're going to breach the door or conduct the
investigation and then prosecuting the cases," she said. "So I think I have very real security experience. It's just a
different perspective."
Memories of 9/11, though, still guide her mission, she said.
"I was there when people held hands and jumped out of that building," recalled Bonn Powell. "So I'm not willing to risk
anything like that happening again.
"And I'm not alone," she continued. "It may become a more distant memory to passengers, maybe even to other
airports. ... But it is so close to home here, particularly with Flight 93."
Ron Marsico may be reached at rmarsico@starledger.com or (973) 392-7860.
