‘Serial stowaway’ caught trying to sneak onto another flight

Marilyn Hartman has been trying to board flights without a ticket for a decade

Marilyn Hartman, the 'serial stowaway' has been caught trying to board another flight (AP)

It’s the first rule of airport security: you need a valid ticket and passport to board a flight. Or do you?

One American woman has been trying to evade airport security for over a decade and sneak onto flights without a ticket or passport in a bizarre case that has seen her named ”the serial stowaway”.

In the past she has been caught boarding planes to Hawaii, Los Angeles, San Jose and Florida. Last year, she successfully boarded a flight to London.

Now, Marilyn Hartman has been caught trying to sneak through security to board another flight without a ticket.

The 67-year-old was caught at Chicago O’Hare airport “moving dividers in an attempt to circumvent security”, reported NBC.

Ms Hartman was charged with one count of criminal trespassing to an airport.

According to local media she has been held without bail for the latest stowaway attempt, and for violating the terms of her probation from last year’s incident where she sneaked onto a London-bound flight from O’Hare.

The so-called serial stowaway has been attempting to board flights without documentation for a decade. According to news reports, she tries to blend in with big groups to get past airport security.

Last January, she was arrested for sneaking past security without a passport or ticket and boarding a flight to London. Just a few weeks later, she was arrested at Chicago O’Hare for trying again to sneak onto another flight and was given $50,000 bond and an electronic monitoring device.

Chicago O’Hare is the city’s main international airport and sees 83 million passengers a year pass through it.