Woman who stowed away on plane to Paris arrested, expected to face federal charge after returning to the US

By Chris Boyette, Saskya Vandoorne and Pete Muntean, CNN

Paris (CNN) — A Russian woman who stowed away on a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris last week has been arrested and is expected to face at least one federal charge after she returned to the United States Wednesday, according to multiple law enforcement officials.

Svetlana Dali, whom French authorities identified as the stowaway, is expected to be charged with being a stowaway on a vessel or aircraft without consent. She could face up to five years in prison.

The plane that left Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport landed shortly after 5 p.m. ET at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York. Dali appeared calm and compliant throughout the flight, according to a CNN producer who was on the plane.

Dali declined to speak with CNN after landing.

Representatives from TSA and law enforcement both plan to question Dali. At least a dozen law enforcement officials from different agencies were standing outside the plane’s gate, and Dali remained on the plane while all other passengers got off. Aerials from CNN affiliate WABC showed at least one car marked as police next to the gate outside.

Dali left Paris on Wednesday aboard a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport shortly after 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET).

She was escorted onto the Delta Air Lines-operated plane by two French security officials. “Everything is going to plan,” said an airport official while the plane was still in the air.

She sat quietly in the back of the aircraft in the middle aisle. Occasionally she leaned her head against the seat in front of her, staring down at the floor or closed her eyes and listened to music.

She was flanked by security officials on both sides.

Delta Air Lines said it has reviewed its own security after the incident last week and insists its infrastructure “is sound.”

Delta found “deviation from standard procedures is the root cause of this event,” the statement said. The airline did not specify how it strayed from its procedures.

“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.”

Delta thanked French and US authorities for their help and deferred further comments to them.

The airline’s statement, issued Wednesday night, is the most it has said so far about how Dali was able to board the flight, but it still did not provide specifics about what took place.

TSA spokesperson Alexa Lopez told CNN Wednesday this incident “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.”

“No one has ever fully breached the TSA security screening process,” Lopez added, as Dali’s bag was screened while going through security.

Two previous attempts to send Dali back to the US were abandoned after she started screaming after boarding a plane Saturday and on Tuesday when Delta refused to fly her after she boarded. Delta has declined to comment on its reasons for refusing to transport her.

“I’m a little bit nervous. She passed security which means there was a failure somewhere,” Zaid Haddad, a passenger on Wednesday’s flight, told CNN.

“I’m glad there’s security with her.”

How she snuck past airport security

The initial incident, in which Dali somehow sneaked onto a plane on one of the busiest travel days of the year, has raised serious questions about airport security after she was able to bypass multiple checkpoints.

Dali first bypassed an airport terminal employee in charge of the line for the Known Crewmember checkpoint at JFK Airport’s Terminal 4 and bypassed stations where her ID and boarding pass would have been checked, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration told CNN.

At the gate, she placed herself in the middle of what appeared to be a family traveling together, according to a senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. She was not carrying any prohibited items, according to a TSA spokesperson.

Asked repeatedly to describe what took place at the gate, Delta has not commented.

Onboard, Dali managed to avoid being easily discovered by hiding in the lavatories, a passenger on the airplane said he overheard flight attendants say.

“I overheard the flight attendants talking about it with the pilots,” New York City real estate broker Rob Jackson told CNN. “They said this person was in one lavatory and then would exit and walk to a different lavatory and go in there for a long time,” he said.

Who is Svetlana Dali?

A Paris airport official identified Dali as a 57-year-old Russian national.

Records indicate Dali once lived in the Philadelphia area.

CNN has attempted to contact Dali’s family and friends to find out more about her.

Authorities have not said whether Dali has tried to sneak onto a plane before, or whether she was previously known to law enforcement. It is unclear how long she had been in the United States.

TSA preparing civil case, spokesperson says

Authorities in New York will be at the airport waiting for Dali when her plane lands.

Inspectors from the TSA are preparing a civil case against Dali after reviewing airport security video from inside JFK Airport, agency spokesperson Lopez told CNN.

“The TSA will open civil cases against passengers when there’s evidence that procedures may have been violated,” Lopez said. The TSA cannot bring criminal charges, though it can refer them to the Justice Department.

Law enforcement authorities want to question Dali about how she evaded airport security and determine whether or not to bring charges, according to a senior law enforcement official.

Delta said it is working with law enforcement and conducting an investigation of its own.

“Nothing is of greater importance than matters of safety and security,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. “That’s why Delta is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred and will work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end.”

CNN has reached out to Delta to ask whether Dali will be banned from future flights with the airline.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Mark Morales, Brynn Gingras, John Miller, Taylor Romine and Sara Smart contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.