A Northern California woman who has repeatedly tried to sneak onboard airline flights without paying has finally gotten off the ground.
A member of the House Homeland Security Committee says Marilyn Hartman, 62, bypassed a document checker at Mineta San Jose International Airport, walked onto the plane and even took a seat.
Southwest Airlines did a head count after the plane was in the air and realized there was a discrepancy in its passengers.
Hartman was immediately arrested once the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport Monday night.
The incident was at least her seventh attempt to sneak onto planes, most of which have occurred at San Francisco International Airport.
On Feb. 15, she made it on to a plane bound for Hawaii. Fortunately, she was caught before that plane took off. Three days later, she tried again, but was caught.
Then again on Feb. 20 she was caught, but that time she was ordered to stay away from the airport unless she had a ticket. That didn't stop her; she was also arrested on March 18, March 26, and April 7.
The 62-year-old told officials she is lonely, and has been trying to get on a flight to Hawaii.
TSA says it is already making adjustments to prevent this sort of incident from happening again.
"We have to really make sure we get it right. We're not sacrificing speed for safety, that's why I think this is going to be a training and procedure fix, not necessarily spending more money," said Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security Rep. Eric Swalwell.
Southwest Airlines says it's working with authorities and conducting its own internal investigation into the incident.
Hartman is being held at the LAPD 77th Street Jail and Police Station in lieu of $500 bail. She faces misdemeanor trespassing charges.
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