Two escape attempts occurred in 1978 involving the same inmate , Garrett Brock Trapnell . On May 24 , 1978 , Trapnell 's friend , 43-year-old Barbara Ann Oswald , hijacked a St. Louis based charter helicopter and ordered the pilot , Allen Barklage , to fly to USP Marion . Barklage complied , but he wrestled the gun away from Oswald and fatally shot her while he was landing in the prison yard , thwarting the escape . On December 21 , 1978 , Oswald 's 17-year-old daughter , Robin Oswald , hijacked TWA Flight 541 , which was en route from Louisville International Airport to Kansas City International Airport and threatened to detonate dynamite strapped to her body if the pilot did not fly to Williamson County Regional Airport , located only miles from USP Marion . When the pilot landed at the airport in Marion , hundreds of law enforcement officers had responded . Robin Oswald surrendered to FBI negotiators at the Williamson airport without incident about ten hours later . The dynamite was later found to be fake
TWA Flight 541
TWA Flight 541
United States Penitentiary, Marion