Stowaway who flew from New York to Paris causes unrest on the return flight

A woman who snuck onto a Delta Air Lines flight from New York City to Paris earlier this week without a boarding pass was removed from a round-trip flight on Saturday after disruption was caused before takeoff.

CBS News has confirmed that the stowaway disrupted Delta Flight No. 265 on Saturday, en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport.

She was removed by French police, causing a delay of more than two hours before the flight’s final departure. She will not be returned to the US on Saturday and will remain in French custody for the time being, CBS News has learned.

French authorities had accompanied her to the plane, but did not travel with her. She caused disturbing noises while on board and police were called to remove her.

Although her name has not been released by authorities, two people familiar with the case identified the woman to CBS News on Saturday as 57-year-old Svetlana Dali.

The woman has a driver’s license that shows she lives in Philadelphia. She is in the US with a green card, according to an acquaintance who did not immediately know her country of birth. The French Ministry of the Interior has identified her as a Russian citizen.

The situation initially unfolded Tuesday, when the woman boarded Delta Flight No. 265 from JFK Airport to Paris without a boarding pass. The flight was not sold out and she was discovered when a flight attendant became concerned that the woman was regularly visiting the various toilets on board the Boeing 767-400ER for extended periods of time, a source familiar with the incident said.

French police boarded the plane after it landed and took her into custody.

At this time, U.S. federal authorities do not plan to charge her with a federal crime, a person familiar with the matter told CBS News. However, she could face criminal charges in New York, possibly for criminal trespass.

Passenger Rob Jackson, who captured video of French authorities boarding the plane after it landed in Paris, told CBS News that he noticed the flight attendants acting strangely as the flight descended.

“I heard them say, we have a passenger who we think was hiding in the toilet during takeoff,” Jackson said. “She has no place to sit. She didn’t have a boarding pass. And she’s actually a stowaway.’

A Transportation Security Administration source told CBS News that the woman went through a body scanner with advanced imaging technology at a checkpoint at JFK Airport after she appeared to somehow evade the document and ID check portion of the TSA process . Her bags were also scanned for prohibited items before she went to the gate and snuck aboard the plane, the source said.

A TSA spokesperson confirmed in a statement that the woman “was physically screened without a boarding pass without any prohibited items” and then “bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded the aircraft.”

After passing through TSA security, it is unclear how exactly the woman boarded the plane without showing a boarding pass or passport to Delta staff.

The French police and the TSA are investigating separately. The woman may be subject to a civil penalty or a fine for circumventing the document review process.

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