when you resort to THIS:
SXSW's lure leads to stowaway charge
FBI says Chicago artist sneaked aboard flight to reach Austin for festival.
By Steven Kreytak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, March 23, 2006
The 50-passenger Embraer 145 making the two-hour flight from St. Louis to Austin had just three seats per row and one tiny bathroom, which is where Catherine "Cat" Chow hid Saturday as the plane took off, desperate, she later told a federal agent, to get to the South by Southwest Music Festival.
Now the 33-year-old Chicago artist is in the Travis County Jail facing federal charges of stowing away on the flight.
Chow had been on the standby list for the flight, booked through American Airlines, but when she learned it was full, Chow sneaked past gate agents at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and boarded, court documents show.
With no seats available, Chow went to the bathroom, where she remained for about an hour before a man knocked, the documents said.
Chow left the lavatory and took the man's seat, but his wife made her move. She then found another vacant seat but was forced to move again. A flight attendant soon identified her as a stowaway, the documents said.
Airport police were waiting when the plane landed. An agent with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force was called to the airport, and Chow was charged this week with boarding an airplane without permission, a federal crime with a maximum punishment of a year in prison.
Airport police have also accused Chow of possessing 4.2 grams of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail, as well as six tablets of Cipralex, a common antidepressant, without a prescription label. The Cipralex led to a charge of possession of a dangerous drug, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Chow's lawyer could not be reached for comment. Chow remained in Travis County Jail on Wednesday with bail set at $3,000.
Chow told authorities she "knew what she did was wrong, but wanted to meet with her friends in Austin . . . to participate in the South by Southwest activities," the documents said.
Chow is a noted artist who is known for creating clothing, which she exhibits as sculpture, out of nontraditional materials.
For example, her Web site, cat-chow.com, highlights a dress she made made from 1,000 $1 bills, called "Not For Sale." She also has made a dress out of one continuous zipper.
Chow, who is living temporarily in New York, was supposed to fly Friday night to Austin to attend South by Southwest with two friends but missed her flight, the documents said. She was booked to fly standby the next day, meaning she would only get a seat if other passengers didn't show up.
She made the flight from New York to St. Louis but told the FBI agent she panicked when the connecting flight to Austin was full because the friends she was traveling with did not know each other well and the next flight wasn't until later that night, the documents said.
The flight, operated by Trans States Airlines, began to board, but after about half the passengers entered the jetway, gate agents announced there would be a delay and sent those passengers back to the seating area, Chow told authorities.
When the airline began to board the airplane again, Chow "noticed that the ticket agents were not very attentive in their re-boarding procedures," the documents said.
She got in line with those who already had entered the jetway and flashed her ticket to the agent as she walked past, documents show.
Bill Mishk, a spokesman for Trans States, said the airline is reviewing its procedures and has taken "some disciplinary action." He declined to elaborate.
Chow, according to court documents, told authorities that she "did not think about the consequences of her actions, she just did it."
skreytak@statesman.com; 912-2946
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