Stowaway who flew from New York to Paris returns to NYC to face charges
NEW YORK -- The woman accused of sneaking onto a Delta Air Lines flight from New York City to Paris last week returned to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday.
The suspect, identified as Svetlana Dali, a 57-year-old Russian National, boarded a Delta flight to return to New York from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, after a previous attempt ended with an outburst. She was escorted by French law enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents. The plane was greeted by police when it landed.
Dali was later arrested by the FBI and was expected to spend the night in jail before making an appearance at U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on Thursday, the bureau said.
The alleged incident at JFK
Dali, who lives in Philadelphia, is accused of sneaking past airport security and boarding a Delta flight to Paris on Nov. 26 without a boarding pass. The Transportation Security Administration confirmed it reviewed security footage showing Dali using a TSA lane for known crew members. That lane eventually merges with the general public, at which point Dali is seen mingling with a group of people getting their IDs checked before slipping by.
She did go through a body scanner, and her bag was flagged during screening for having two bottles of water, which she discarded.
Dali was discovered as a stowaway while the plane was still in midair and was taken into custody when she landed in Paris and refused entry to France.
In a statement, the TSA downplayed the security breach, saying, "This is the only reported case of unauthorized access when over 18 million passengers were screened at TSA security checkpoints during the busiest Thanksgiving travel season ever."
The TSA said it has opened a civil case against her.
Delta blames "deviation from standard procedures"
"Delta would like to thank French and U.S. authorities for their assistance in this matter," Delta Air Lines said in a statement. "Our review affirms that Delta's security infrastructure, as part of our Safety Management System framework, is sound and that deviation from standard procedures is the root cause of this event. We are thoroughly addressing this matter and will continue to work closely with our regulators, law enforcement and other relevant stakeholders. Nothing is of greater importance than safety and security."
CBS News confirmed Dali created a disruption on her return flight Saturday when authorities initially attempted to take her to the States. She was removed from that flight by French law enforcement, causing a delay of more than two hours.
