Serial Stowaway flies ORD-LHR
Jan 20, 2018, 7:12 pm
#46
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,265
She probably has a keen eye for security procedures and to spot holes in the system. Perhaps she joined a group going in. Joined another where a family is scanning multiple boarding passes and the agent gets distracted. She's probably gotten good at it. I'm only guessing as to what she might have done.
Jan 20, 2018, 9:34 pm
#47
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 60
You know as a now senior citizen who flies alone mostly, I can report that once over a certain age (or looking over that age), you become pretty much invisible to younger people....just spend a bit of time people watching and you'll see what I mean. Not a lot of interest in what you are doing, where you are going, what you might need, etc. Very little suspicion you re up to no good....you're a sweet old granny just shuffling around. It doesn't surprise me much that with just a little guile someone past that certain age could walk through and get on a plane.
If you don't call attention to yourself people will look right through you.
Jan 21, 2018, 4:47 am
#48
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: next to HAM
Programs: LH M+M
Posts: 960
It’s all very well distracting a TSA agent and a boarding agent, but when you get to the airplane door, how do you distract 2 crew members, often one is the CSD/M and they always seem very intent on seeing a boarding pass before they let you through the door.... that takes some serious skill... and years of watching and practicing how to do it.
Jan 21, 2018, 5:02 am
#50
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
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It’s all very well distracting a TSA agent and a boarding agent, but when you get to the airplane door, how do you distract 2 crew members, often one is the CSD/M and they always seem very intent on seeing a boarding pass before they let you through the door.... that takes some serious skill... and years of watching and practicing how to do it.
Jan 21, 2018, 5:03 am
#51
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: LH SEN; BA Gold
Posts: 8,405
In First Class, in every airline, they have a list of the passengers with the names so the crew can address the passenger properly. They would have discovered her before the doors had closed. I don't think she would have made it to the Champagne glass in First Class in BA where one member of the crew is supposed to personally take you to your seat.
Jan 21, 2018, 5:25 am
#52
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 852
Here's a local article from Chicago.
'Serial stowaway' got past TSA, spent night at O'Hare before flight to London: Prosecutors - Chicago Tribune
She's found a flaw in the system and no one wants to admit it.
'Serial stowaway' got past TSA, spent night at O'Hare before flight to London: Prosecutors - Chicago Tribune
She's found a flaw in the system and no one wants to admit it.
Jan 21, 2018, 7:10 am
#54
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
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Jan 21, 2018, 9:02 am
#55
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 479
That's not how it works. There is no universal, national "3 strikes policy." Most criminal justice in the USA is done at the state level, and not all states have these laws. In the states that do have them, they usually only include felonies (which she wasn't necessarily charged with on all her previous trespass attempts) and generally require at least some of the offenses to be serious/violent crimes.
Last edited by Kumulani; Jan 21, 2018 at 9:09 am
Jan 21, 2018, 9:48 am
#56
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: City of Kingston Upon Hull
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 4,940
That's not how it works. There is no universal, national "3 strikes policy." Most criminal justice in the USA is done at the state level, and not all states have these laws. In the states that do have them, they usually only include felonies (which she wasn't necessarily charged with on all her previous trespass attempts) and generally require at least some of the offenses to be serious/violent crimes.
Jan 21, 2018, 10:04 am
#57
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 479
She was screened at the checkpoint, so didn't totally breach security, but she was apparently able to walk past the boarding pass checker without being noticed. Looking at past cases of people who actually did breach security though, as long as they didn't do anything else they were generally just charged with trespassing, which is a misdemeanor in most states.
Jan 21, 2018, 5:58 pm
#58
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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She was screened at the checkpoint, so didn't totally breach security, but she was apparently able to walk past the boarding pass checker without being noticed. Looking at past cases of people who actually did breach security though, as long as they didn't do anything else they were generally just charged with trespassing, which is a misdemeanor in most states.
That's correct. Because it's very strict rules. If you get onboard the aircraft and you must show your ticket at the aircraft door.
Jan 21, 2018, 6:26 pm
#59
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: BA Bronze, United 1K, HH Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,477
I tried that with BA but it never worked. The CSM would always insist to see my BP and would wait for me to produce it before letting me board the plane. But it does work on the US Airlines. Once it's scanned at boarding, I can put the BP in my pocket and only produce it again if somebody thinks that I'm sitting in their seat.
Jan 21, 2018, 8:29 pm
#60
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I tried that with BA but it never worked. The CSM would always insist to see my BP and would wait for me to produce it before letting me board the plane. But it does work on the US Airlines. Once it's scanned at boarding, I can put the BP in my pocket and only produce it again if somebody thinks that I'm sitting in their seat.