Woman convicted for stowing away on Delta flight to Paris

In November 2024, Svetlana Dali, a Russian citizen and U.S. permanent resident, successfully boarded a Delta Air Lines flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Paris without a valid ticket. She evaded several security measures, including TSA checkpoints and gate agents, by blending in with a group of ticketed passengers. After boarding the flight, Dali concealed herself in the airplane's bathroom for the majority of the voyage, managing to elude detection by the crew until the plane was nearing its destination in France. Upon landing, Dali faced immediate legal troubles as French law enforcement prevented her from passing through customs due to her lack of a boarding pass. Authorities then attempted to send her back to the United States; however, she resisted their efforts and was later brought back to New York to face federal charges. Dali was found guilty of being a stowaway, with the jury delivering a conviction just over five months after her initial arrest. Dali's case is notable not just for her stowaway act but for her background as someone who had previously attempted to evade security at multiple airports. In the two days leading up to the incident at JFK, she successfully passed security checks at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut and Miami International Airport, where she had been discovered hiding in a bathroom. Prosecutors noted that Dali's actions indicated a pattern of behavior, as they believed she might have stowed away on another flight prior to the New York to Paris incident, underscoring potential security vulnerabilities within airport security. Following her conviction, the judge did not set a sentencing date, but Dali is facing a potential sentence ranging from zero to six months in prison. She has remained in custody for over five months and previously had electronic monitoring after her initial arrest, during which time she allegedly removed the monitor and attempted to cross into Canada. The Transportation Security Administration has since stated that additional security measures have been implemented to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, highlighting the evolving nature of airport security protocols in response to breaches like Dali's.