Last week, a 57-year-old Russian national surprised authorities by boarding a Delta flight from New York to France without a passport or boarding pass, according to multiple media outlets.
The suspect, identified as Svetlana Dali, appeared in Brooklyn federal court on Friday and is charged with one count of stowing away on a vessel or aircraft without consent. According to On CNN. Dali reportedly exploited a security weakness at New York's Kennedy International Airport on November 26, slipping past an airline employee who didn't ask for a boarding pass on a crowded plane. According to In the New York Times. (Related: Plane carrying nearly 80 passengers slides off icy runway before takeoff)
“There were multiple failures throughout the day,” Mary Schiavo, a former U.S. Department of Transportation inspector general, told the program. “The system was lucky that she had no intention of harming the plane or its passengers.”
A Delta Airlines Boeing 767 takes a taxi at Los Angeles International Airport. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
The 57-year-old man was arrested and deported, then safely returned to the United States by Wednesday. She was immediately arrested by the FBI, CNN reported.
During the seven-hour flight to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Dali allegedly hid in the bathroom to avoid the attention of the flight attendants, The New York Times reported. In a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Dali claims that he “did not have a ticket and intentionally harassed TSA security personnel and Delta Air Lines employees so that he could travel without purchasing a ticket.” I avoided his eyes,” he said.
At Dali's hearing on Thursday, prosecutors told the judge that the 57-year-old man was a “flight risk” but that she was not a “grave danger” and that she was a “national security and security”. He disagreed with the suspect's lawyer, who said he was a public order violator who had committed a crime. CNN reported that there are concerns.
Judge Joseph Martolo ruled Friday that Dali does not have to post bail. However, she is prohibited from going to the airport, is subject to GPS monitoring, must submit travel documents and abide by a curfew. The 57-year-old now faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
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