A Delta Air Lines passenger who flew from New York to Paris as a stowaway is now stuck in France after his booked flight back to the United States was disrupted.
Officials said the woman, identified as Svetlana Dali, boarded the fully booked Flight 265 without a ticket before departing from John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens. The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Dalli, 57, passed through the property control route but never had his boarding pass or passport checked.
“TSA can confirm that an individual without a boarding pass passes the search without carrying any prohibited items. This person bypasses two identity verification and check-in status stations and is able to board the aircraft. ,” federal authorities said in a statement.
Passengers said Dali avoided suspicion for a long time by moving from toilet to toilet without sitting on the plane, but was eventually discovered by flight attendants.
A video taken by a passenger on the plane and shared on social media showed the pilot making an announcement about the stowaway. “We were instructed to keep everyone on the plane until we could screen out the extra passengers on the plane,” the pilot said in a statement.
Upon arriving in Paris, French authorities detained Dalí, who did not have a visa for Paris. French officials told ABC News that she is a Russian national and a legal resident of the United States.
Dali was placed on another Delta flight back to the United States from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. But according to a Delta Air Lines representative, she became “uncontrollable.” French authorities removed her from the plane and she remained in the country.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Delta Air Lines each said they were investigating the incident.
TSA added that it is independently investigating “the circumstances of this incident at the JFK Airport travel document screening area.”
“Nothing is more important than the issue of safety and security,” Delta Air Lines said in a statement. “As a result, Delta is conducting a thorough investigation into what happened and will continue to work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement agencies to do so.”
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which serves JFK Airport, did not respond to requests for comment.
