Woman accused of sneaking onto Delta flight arrested again trying to take bus to Canada
A woman accused of sneaking onto a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris last month was arrested on Monday trying to leave the country once again, this time on a bus bound for Canada.
Svetlana Dali, 57, was arrested in Buffalo, New York on Monday, Barbara Burns, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of New York, confirmed to Paste BN in an emailed statement Tuesday. Burns also confirmed Dali will have an initial appearance in court Tuesday afternoon.
Dali was arraigned and charged in early December with knowingly stowing away abroad an aircraft without consent. Dali, a U.S. permanent resident originally from Russia, appeared in a federal court in Brooklyn on Dec. 6, where she was subsequently released without bail under a detailed set of conditions.
According to court documents, Dali was ordered to reside in Philadelphia under GPS monitoring, undergo a mental health evaluation and surrender any travel documents.
Before Dali's latest arrest, she allegedly cut off her monitor and made her way to upstate New York, where she rode a bus toward the Canadian border, reported The New York Times, citing two law enforcement officials.
Dali stowed away in the airplane's lavatory
According to a criminal complaint filed on Dec. 5, Dali reportedly snuck aboard Delta Air Lines flight 264 at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport bound for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Nov. 26.
Airport surveillance footage reviewed by the FBI showed Dali initially attempting to get in line at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint before being turned away after she was unable to show a boarding pass.
A few minutes later, Dali was able to get past the checkpoint by "entering through a special lane for airline employees masked by a large Air Europa flight crew."
Dali was subsequently screened along with other ticketed passengers and proceeded to a boarding gate. There, charging documents state that Dali was able to board the plane because, "Delta agents, who were busy helping ticketed passengers board, did not stop her or ask her to present a boarding pass before she boarded the plane."
During the flight, in which CNN reported that passengers noticed Dali attempting to hide in a lavatory, the crew became aware of her presence and notified French authorities.
FBI officials interviewed Dali after she was returned to the U.S. by French law enforcement on Dec. 4, where charging documents show that she admitted to not having a ticket and to intentionally evading TSA officials and Delta employees. Dali also confirmed that surveillance camera images depicted her and that she was aware that her conduct was illegal.
In a statement to Paste BN on Thursday, Delta Airlines expressed gratitude to law enforcement officials in the U.S. and France.
"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.," the statement continued. "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.”
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at Paste BN. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.
Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for Paste BN. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.