What is a Stowaway?

@VivAnne - It sounds like "The 5th Element" shows stowing away a lot more realistically than "Stowaway", but they're from very different time periods and genres, so it makes sense. Many people seem to think if more movies showed the harsh realities of stowing away, people would stop thinking it was such a "fun" idea and not try stowing away much in real life, but I disagree.

I think, really, most people who actually try stowing away are in desperate situations, and probably haven't ever even seen the movies you're mentioning. Remember, a lot more travel by boat and train goes on in countries that aren't the United States (where the romanticized Hollywood movies come out), so likely the majority of stowaways are from third-world countries.

If they're in a desperate situation, I can't really blame them even if they're going into a dangerous situation.

The article talks about stowaway people and stowaway animals, but what about stowaway electronics? I guess a stowaway keyboard isn't really a stowaway if you know it's there, though. Isn't the requirement for a stowaway the fact that they are sneaking along without the transporting party knowing they're there?

By far the worst kind of stowaway I can think of is tarantulas. They sometimes stowaway in crates with bananas shipped from tropical areas -- imagine unpacking the banana crates and having tarantulas come out! That alone is enough to make me forever avoid the food hauling business, I tell you.

@SkittisH - Liking stowaway fiction stories is nothing to be ashamed of. People like fiction themes about illegal and dangerous things all the time -- and exploring them in stories helps prevent many people from trying any stowing away for real, so it's probably a good thing!

You talking about that Shirley Temple movie made me think of stowing away scenes I've seen in movies, too. The one that popped to mind most clearly for me is the short scene in "The 5th Element" where the priest stows away on the space plane to the luxury resort planet and gets caught by security.

He's doing the dangerous variety of stowing away -- hiding in an electrical panel tangled up in cords -- and I have to wonder how long he would've been stuck there, considering the fact that the passengers were put into a hibernation sleep during the trip. Doesn't that mean it would take a long time? It's a good thing the guards caught him as a stowaway, or he might have starved to death on the way over!

Reality may be difficult and dangerous where stowing away is concerned, but I have to confess that I'm guilty of that romanticizing of stowing away that the article mentions. I blame this on my childhood; many of my favorite stories involved stowaways escaping desperate situations or going out to find adventure.

My favorite stowaway movie is Shirley Temple's "Stowaway" (creative title, I know, but there's more to it than that.) It's about a little girl who ends up a stowaway on a luxury cruise liner and plays match maker for a man and woman on the boat. It's cute and fun, and since it's from 1939 there's an innocence to it that movies really ought to have again these days.

I wish there were more movies like "Stowaway" -- they romanticize stowing away, but it's okay to like it if it's just the fictional kind, right?

I have to wonder that because of the times we live in and the fact that people will take absolute precaution from terrorist attacks what the penalty can be for someone that is a stowaway.

On a commercial airliner I imagine that if a stowaway is found it causes a very long delay with the plane, say they were caught before takeoff and be a serious issue when they are in the air. I have to wonder even if someone is simply trying to catch a ride somewhere if it would be a federal offense and include a large fine and long jail sentence due to the panic it could cause.

@cardsfan27 - I remember once during an episode of the show 24 the main protagonist stowed away on a commercial airliner to try and prevent a terrorist attack and was caught by the pilots in mid flight. He was in the luggage compartment and the pilots attempted to depressurize that part of the plane to kill him, thinking that he was a terrorist.

In the show the pilots feared for the safety of the passengers and did what they could, because they saw a perceived threat to their lives. This is a danger of being a stowaway, not just on a plane but say maybe on a train or a boat. We live in times where people are fearful when they travel internationally and if there is a stowaway on board they may assume the worst of that person and take whatever precautions they see as necessary and it could end badly for the stowaway.

@stl156 - You are absolutely correct. As the article stated if you are caught stowing away on a plane, due to fears of terroristic activities occurring on planes, they will assume that the stowaway is a terrorist until they are completely checked out.

I have heard stories of people desperately trying to get to one place, because of an emergency and they have either tried or have given serious thought to stowing away on a plane. This is of course just plain stupid and could result in a tragedy for the stowaway.

Although I have not seen it happen in years I remember when I was a kid I would constantly see people in open box cars on trains hitching a ride to wherever they need to go. I could not help but think that whenever I saw this happen that that person had to get on the train somehow and since it they were illegally on the train they probably did not get on the train when it was stopped, but rather jumped on the train when it was in motion.

This clearly shows the dangers of stowing away and illegally boarding trains and I cannot imagine the dangers that would come with trying to stow away on a plane nowadays.