![a woman in a hat and a plane](https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/russian-stowaway-arrested-again.png)
The Russian stowaway who managed to sneak onboard a Delta Air Lines flight from New York JFK to Paris has reportedly been arrested again after slicing off her electronic ankle tag and jumping on a bus heading to Canada.
Law enforcement sources claim Svetlana Dali was apprehended at the Canada border crossing in New York State on Monday after she fled the Philadelphia address where she was meant to be staying while she awaits trial.
Dali made international headlines in late November when it was revealed that she managed to sneak onboard a Delta Air Lines flight to Paris. She was only discovered in the last hour of the transatlantic crossing when flight attendants became suspicious of her lengthy visits to the washroom.
In an affidavit filed in federal court last week, the FBI briefly explained how Dali had managed to evade multiple checks at New York JFK, sneaking past the Transportation Security Administration and Delta gate agents before hiding in an onboard lavatory for most of the flight to Europe.
Surveillance video footage of the TSA checkpoint at JFK Terminal 4 shows that Dali first attempted to get through the security checkpoint at around 8:24 pm on November 26, but she was turned away because she didn’t have a boarding pass.
Just five minutes later, however, Dali got in line again, and this time, she managed to hide behind a group of pilots and flight attendants for Spanish-based airline Air Europa who were lined up at a special lane for aircrews.
Dali went through standard TSA security checks and then headed to gate B38 where she was able to sneak past busy gate agents who were distracted helping other passengers.
Once onboard the packed aircraft, it’s alleged that Dali hid in a lavatory for the majority of the flight before flight attendants eventually became suspicious and asked her to show her boarding pass.
Only at this point was it discovered that Dali was a stowaway and on landing in Paris, she was arrested by French police. Dali initially attempted to claim asylum in Europe but her request was quickly rejected and a deportation order was granted.
Once back in the United States, Dali was charged with being a stowaway, but a court made the unusual decision to release her on bail. The judge did, however, order Dali to wear a GPS-tracking ankle tag as part of her pre-trial conditions not to leave Philadelphia or the southern and eastern districts of New York State.
The 57-year-old suspect was allegedly caught on a Greyhound bus that had set off from Buffalo, New York after border guards asked her to present her passport. When Dali said she didn’t have her passport, the officers conducted a name search and discovered that a warrant had already been issued for her arrest for leaving her approved travel area.
Delta Air Lines says that a review of its security procedures has concluded that human error was behind Dali’s nearly successful stowaway attempt. In addition to multiple other checks, flight attendants were meant to check the onboard lavatories before the plane pushed back from the gate.
Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant at the most prominent airline in the Middle East and has been flying ever since... most recently for a well known European airline. Matt is passionate about the aviation industry and has become an expert in passenger experience and human-centric stories. Always keeping an ear close to the ground, Matt's industry insights, analysis and news coverage is frequently relied upon by some of the biggest names in journalism.