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TSA Boss: Stowaway Got Past First Checkpoint During Busy Rush At O'Hare

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The administrator of the Transportation Security Administration said his agency is looking closely at their screening procedures after a woman got past screeners and boarded a flight on London--without a ticket or passport.

David Pekoske, in his first on camera interview on the incident, said Marilyn Hartman got around the first TSA screener during a "very busy" time at O'Hare International Airport and then went to go through the x-ray process before proceeding to the gate.

"The passenger was screened by TSA," Pekoske said. "So she did go through TSA screening. What she did was she got around the first person in the TSA checkpoint.

"What we're doing with that is looking at how we manage the queue from the airport waiting area into the TSA screening station to make sure we don't provide any opportunity for a passenger to get by that person.

"It is a concern of ours that she got by the first person."

Hartman has gotten through numerous security lines in the past.

Her latest security breach began in Terminal 3 on Jan. 14. Around 2 p.m., she's seen on security tape at Checkpoint 7A.

According to authorities, she hid her face with her hair, and while the TSA agent is checking passengers, she slipped by.

Once through security, she tried to board a flight to Connecticut. Waiting in line, Hartman hid behind a passenger, but when she attempted to dart down the ramp, the ticket agent stopped her and told her to sit down.

Hartman left and was next seen on video boarding a shuttle bus to Terminal 5. Authorities don't explain how she got on the bus; passengers are supposed to show a boarding pass and passport.

Authorities assume Hartman spent the night at Terminal 5 because the next day, Jan. 15, she was seen at the British Airways gate, M12, where Flight 294 is headed to London.

As an agent was checking passports, Hartman slipped past, hid in a small room for just a few seconds and then headed down the ramp. She found an empty seat on board a plane and took off for London.

Customs authorities in London stopped Hartman. She was sent back to Chicago late last week.

She was charged Friday, and a judge has set up conditions for her release on bond.

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