‘Serial stowaway’ flees facility, gets caught yet again at Chicago airport

The indomitable human spirit is a marvel to behold.

A notorious Chicago woman who has managed to evade airport security to board dozens of flights without a ticket was back in action this week – despite having been confined to an electronic monitoring residential facility.

“Serial stowaway” Marilyn Hartman was taken into custody at the Windy City’s O’Hare Airport after escaping from the court-ordered facility Tuesday, local station WGN reported.

Police were able to locate and arrest the plucky 69-year-old at the international flight hub thanks to her tracking device.

Hartman may have pulled the wool over the Transport Security Administration’s eyes on some 30 occasions over the last three decades – but this time she didn’t make it past the checkpoint as cops picked her up in the airport’s non-secure section.

Yet that is not to diminish her stunning record of successes.

Hartman has been busted for breaching security multiple times at O’Hare, Midway, and other airports across the country.

According to an interview she gave with Chicago’s CBS 2 that aired just last Sunday, Hartman has even sneaked past customs officials to board flights to London, Paris and Copenhagen.

In that conversation, the wily traveler refused to take credit for her daring deeds.

“The thing I’ve got to tell you. I have never been able to board a plane by myself. I was always let through,” Hartman told the station. “I mean I was able to go through the security line without a boarding pass.”

“I got by them, this is the thing that is so crazy, by following someone they would be carrying like a blue bag,” she explained. “And the next thing I know, I get into the TSA line and TSA lets me through, and they think I’m with the guy with the blue bag.”

Aviation security expert Jeff Price told CBS 2 he was staggered by Hartman’s crazy career, but warned that her simple tactics were extremely concerning in a post 9/11 world.

“For her to be able to repeat that over and over, that is just mind boggling,” Price said. “The genius of her mode of operation is in its simplicity. It’s the unsophisticated types of plans are often the most successful.”

Hartman, who struggles with bipolar disorder, suggested that police ought to focus on incompetent airport staff rather than her mental illness.

“I know they keep emphasizing the mental illness … law enforcement … would like to have that in place. But umm… [laughs] no, I’m pretty good,” she reportedly said.

Police said they will seek approval before pressing felony escape charges against Hartman, according to WGN.