Homeless Woman at San Jose Airport Boards Plane without a Ticket

Homeless Woman at San Jose Airport Boards Plane without a Ticket

  • By Ginger Hill
  • Aug 07, 2014

San Jose airport officials and the Transportation Security Administration are downplaying the fact that Homeless Woman at San Jose Airport Boards Plane without a TicketMarilyn Hartman, a 62-year-old homeless woman and well-known trespasser boarded a plane and completed a flight without a ticket on Wednesday of this week. Their explanation was that the stowaway posed no security threat because she passed a TSA screening.

Each time I fly, I must present my boarding pass to the TSA agent before I am asked to remove my shoes, place any liquids and computer into a tray, slide the trays through the X-ray machine along with my travel bag while I walk through a metal detector. So, how was all this possible for Hartman without a boarding pass?

There are critics to what happened. Rep, Eric Swalwell, the only California congressman on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security, said, “The woman [referring to Hartman] was harmless, but there are people who I don’t want on an airplane even if they go through security screening, who the public doesn’t want on an airplane.”

Come to find out, Hartman has been arrested seven times this year for trying to sneak onto flights at San Francisco International Airport. She bypassed two ticket checkpoints and went undetected for an entire trip from San Jose to Los Angeles while flying on Southwest airlines. And, she was caught aboard another airline earlier in the year when a passenger claimed that she was in his seat.

Supposedly this time, Hartman was able to sneak past the TSA ticket checkpoint after three failed tries, blend in with a family and slip past the guard. At that point, she tried to board an Alaskan Airlines flight, but was not allowed, so she blended in with other passengers boarding a Southwest flight, successfully getting past the gate agent.

Hartman has explained to authorities that she has cancer and she just wanted to go somewhere warm. After pleading no contest, she was released on the condition that she must stay away from the airport unless she has a legitimate boarding pass.

Heart stings have been pulled by many who have read her story and a gofundme.com has been set up to gather enough money to send Hartman to Hawaii as well as help with her cancer treatments. If she doesn't have cancer, the funds will be donated to UCSF oncology. So far, $415 has been raised.

Image courtesy of San Mateo County Sheriff's Office via The San Francisco Examiner.)

About the Author

Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.

Featured

  • Report: 47 Percent of Security Service Providers Are Not Yet Using AI or Automation Tools

    Trackforce, a provider of security workforce management platforms, today announced the launch of its 2025 Physical Security Operations Benchmark Report, an industry-first study that benchmarks both private security service providers and corporate security teams side by side. Based on a survey of over 300 security professionals across the globe, the report provides a comprehensive look at the state of physical security operations. Read Now

    • Guard Services

  • Identity Governance at the Crossroads of Complexity and Scale

    Modern enterprises are grappling with an increasing number of identities, both human and machine, across an ever-growing number of systems. They must also deal with increased operational demands, including faster onboarding, more scalable models, and tighter security enforcement. Navigating these ever-growing challenges with speed and accuracy requires a new approach to identity governance that is built for the future enterprise. Read Now

  • Eagle Eye Networks Launches AI Camera Gun Detection

    Eagle Eye Networks, a provider of cloud video surveillance, recently introduced Eagle Eye Gun Detection, a new layer of protection for schools and businesses that works with existing security cameras and infrastructure. Eagle Eye Networks is the first to build gun detection into its platform. Read Now

  • Report: AI is Supercharging Old-School Cybercriminal Tactics

    AI isn’t just transforming how we work. It’s reshaping how cybercriminals attack, with threat actors exploiting AI to mass produce malicious code loaders, steal browser credentials and accelerate cloud attacks, according to a new report from Elastic. Read Now

  • Pragmatism, Productivity, and the Push for Accountability in 2025-2026

    Every year, the security industry debates whether artificial intelligence is a disruption, an enabler, or a distraction. By 2025, that conversation matured, where AI became a working dimension in physical identity and access management (PIAM) programs. Observations from 2025 highlight this turning point in AI’s role in access control and define how security leaders are being distinguished based on how they apply it. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • Mobile Safe Shield

    Mobile Safe Shield

    SafeWood Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of patented bullet resistant products, is excited to announce the launch of the Mobile Safe Shield. The Mobile Safe Shield is a moveable bullet resistant shield that provides protection in the event of an assailant and supplies cover in the event of an active shooter. With a heavy-duty steel frame, quality castor wheels, and bullet resistant core, the Mobile Safe Shield is a perfect addition to any guard station, security desks, courthouses, police stations, schools, office spaces and more. The Mobile Safe Shield is incredibly customizable. Bullet resistant materials are available in UL 752 Levels 1 through 8 and include glass, white board, tack board, veneer, and plastic laminate. Flexibility in bullet resistant materials allows for the Mobile Safe Shield to blend more with current interior décor for a seamless design aesthetic. Optional custom paint colors are also available for the steel frame.