A woman who snuck aboard a Delta flight from JFK airport to Paris was hauled back to the United States on Wednesday and could face federal charges for the stowaway stunt, the Daily News has learned.
Svetlana Dali, 57, was flown back to New York City, and could appear before a Brooklyn federal court judge on Thursday, after dodging a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint — and slipping through another Delta checkpoint at the airline’s boarding gate last week. She then boarded Delta flight 264 heading to Charles de Gaulle Airport in the City of Light.
“The individual bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded the aircraft,” a TSA spokesman said.
The rogue passenger now could face federal charges for hopping the free ride, sources told The News.
Flanked by two security officials for her forced return ride, Dali left Paris aboard a Delta Airlines flight from Charles de Gaulle shortly after 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) and landed at JFK around 5 p.m., according to CNN.
Dali, who had a Russian passport, was supposed to return back to the U.S. on Nov. 30 after being taken into custody, the outlet reported. But because of a ruckus at the Paris airport, the airlines refused to fly her and rescheduled her for a Wednesday flight.
In a statement to the outlet, Delta said it found “deviation from standard procedures is the root cause of this event,” though it didn’t go into detail about the missteps.