The Russian woman accused of sneaking onto a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris has been returned to the United States and is scheduled to appear before a federal judge.
On Saturday, Svetlana Dali, 57, reportedly made it through security checks at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.
Dali, a Russian citizen with legal residency in the United States, was even able to avoid a Delta gate agent to board the Paris-bound flight despite not having a boarding pass or valid travel documents, police said. .
When she arrived in France, she was detained for several days before being escorted Wednesday to a Delta-operated plane headed back to New York City. alphabet reported.
Dalí was arrested at JFK Airport on Wednesday and is expected to be formally charged during her court appearance in the Eastern District of New York on Thursday.
It is still unclear why he went to France without having a valid visa or even a boarding ticket. According to his Facebook, he has a Russian passport issued in 2012.
Passengers filmed Dalí after flight attendants reportedly caught her going from bathroom to bathroom because she didn’t have a seat.
She then allegedly became “belligerent” and shouted at staff trying to question her.
Svetlana Dali, 57, will be formally charged Thursday in connection with her alleged sneaking onto a Delta-operated plane that departed New York City and was headed to Paris.
In the photo: Dalí’s Russian passport, issued in 2012.
New footage from her return flight also showed her combative with airline staff, shouting that she needed “asylum against the United States.”
‘Please help me!’ she was seen saying in the video. “I don’t want to go to the United States.”
Delta and TSA said they have launched an investigation to find out how Dali allegedly got through security checkpoints.
‘Nothing is more important than safety and security issues. “That’s why Delta is conducting a thorough investigation into what may have occurred and will work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end,” Delta said in a statement.
The TSA said Dali was originally screened at JFK Airport and was not carrying any prohibited items, but was found to have “no boarding pass.”
It has not been explained how Dalí was allowed to pass the security check where passengers’ boarding passes are scanned.
“TSA takes seriously any incident that occurs at any of our checkpoints across the country,” said TSA spokesman Daniel Velez.
“TSA will independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document screening station at JFK.”
When Dalí arrived at Paris’ Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, French authorities said she was “denied entry for lack of a valid travel document and placed in a waiting room.”
Dalí appears confronted by the flight attendants on board the Delta flight to Paris.
Passengers filmed her during the nightmarish flight and were caught going back and forth between the plane’s bathrooms because she didn’t have a seat.
Because she had a valid residency in the US, French officials decided to send her back on a return flight to JFK, however, Dalí intended to remain outside the US.
French airport officials also revealed that Dalí had previously requested asylum in France, although they did not say when he applied or whether he was ever granted it.
Several passengers shared their experience of being on the flight with Dali, who allegedly attempted to evade staff by walking from bathroom to bathroom after takeoff.
Jairam Dookoo, who was on the original flight to Paris, said Dali initially pretended to try to find his documents before arguing with airline staff.
“It took him 10 minutes to find his bags and try to find his boarding pass,” he told ABC News. “Which she didn’t have at all.”
Footage of Dali being unruly with airline staff as French authorities attempted to deport her was taken before the plane took off, and passengers said she began to freak out almost instantly.
Passenger Natalia Treichler said: “She became belligerent and that’s why more flight attendants came to try to restrain her.
“That’s when everything started to escalate.”