A stowaway from the USA flew around the world dozens of times for free: how she did it

She admits that she took these trips as a literal response to the "fight or flight" instinct. Independent.

Photo: Shutterstock

A 69-year-old woman, notorious for slipping on more than 30 commercial flights without tickets, described how her humble but confident demeanor helped her bypass security systems.

Nicknamed Serial Stowaway, Marilyn Hartman has been in Chicago's Cook County Jail since October 2019 after being arrested while trying to fly from Chicago's O'Hare Airport. She spoke to the media for the first time after her arrest, discussing why and how she got on the planes and if she was going to do it again.

When asked how she managed to get through TSA checkpoints without a boarding pass, she told CBS News, "I was always allowed to pass."

“I realized that it was such a crazy thing to follow someone who was carrying a blue bag. And the next thing I know, I get in line at TSA and TSA lets me through and they think I’m with the guy with the blue bag.”

Hartman made her first illegal flight in 2002 from Chicago to Copenhagen, Denmark. In the same year, she boarded another international flight to Paris. Her travels around the world remained out of sight of security until August 2014, when she was caught flying from San Jose to Las Vegas.

But the judge let her go with a warning, and seven months later she began her illegal trips again. Her last international trip was to London in January 2018, when she boarded a $ 3428 flight on British Airways. But by the time she was on the radar of TSA agents, she was detained and charged.

On the subject: A homeless man made his way to the airbase where Biden's plane is located: he was not noticed for five hours

Hartman told the organization that she likes her fame.

"I don't mind if people say, 'She's crazy.' When I look at it objectively, I see it like this... it's crazy,” Hartman says. “I deliberately remained a mystery because of the madness factor.” It was like something out of a movie. I don't really care if they call me crazy. I mean it's a crazy story."

Her beginnings came to an end when she was intercepted by TSA at O'Hare Airport in Chicago in October 2019. Hartman was already on probation after the London expedition. The stowaway spent 500 days in the Cook County Jail in Chicago on charges of burglary, trespassing and probation. She is also receiving treatment for bipolar disorder.

Hartman shared that she went on these trips because she “wasn't happy,” and she blames her difficult childhood for her mental state.

“There was so much violence and mental illness in the family,” she said, adding that she saw her decisions as a literal response to her fight-or-flight instinct.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

“When I was on the plane, I was not happy. I was actually depressed,” she told CBS. — I have bipolar disorder. And that’s what I rejected for years.”

Jeff Price, professor in the Department of Aviation and Aerospace Sciences at Metropolitan State University, said Hartman's "simple-minded" method highlighted flaws in airport security procedures in the wake of 11/XNUMX. He also believes that the woman got off easy because she looked like a grandmother, and the same politeness would not apply to a young man with olive skin or a mother in a hijab.

Read also on ForumDaily:

The worst plane crash in US history: how human error killed nearly 300 people

Air rage: why people become aggressive in airplanes and how to protect themselves

The plane, flying to Seattle, urgently landed in California due to the death of a passenger

10 offensive reasons for dropping people off planes

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.