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 Wednesday. 

The suspect, identified by two people familiar with the matter as Svetlana Dali, boarded a Delta flight to return to New York from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. She’s being escorted by French law enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents. The plane was greeted by police when it landed. 

Dali, 57, is expected to be arrested in New York Wednesday evening on trespassing and theft of service charges, a person familiar with the matter told CBS News. So far, there are no plans to charge her with a federal crime, a person familiar with the matter told CBS News. The Transportation Security Administration says it has opened a civil case against her. 

The Philadelphia resident initially managed to sneak past airport security and board a Delta flight to Paris on Nov. 26 without a boarding pass. TSA officials said the woman used a group of passengers to bypass the ID check at JFK before entering the TSA checkpoint. She went through a body scanner, and her bag was flagged during screening for having two bottles of water, which she discarded. 

She 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. 

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 she 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. 

contributed to this report.