A newly emerged video shows how Russian citizen and U.S. resident Svetlana Dali sneaked past airport gate agents and got onto a trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Paris last year.
On Nov. 26, Ms. Dali went to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and initially was turned away by Transportation Security Administration officials due to not having a boarding pass. But she got through security by slipping into a group of Air Europa employees in a special lane and subsequently had her bags checked.
She then went to the Delta Air Lines gate and got onto the flight to Paris, where flight attendants eventually figured out she was a stowaway. Previously, Delta said that Ms. Dali’s boarding was caused by an unspecified “deviation from standard procedures.”
The video, procured by The Associated Press, shows Ms. Dali from behind, wearing a gray hood and toting a backpack and another bag, pulling a similar trick to what she did to get through security.
She is seen walking closely behind a group of passengers after gate agents had checked their tickets before heading down the ramp towards the plane.
The gate agents did not appear to notice Ms. Dali, who was apprehended once on the ground in Paris, where she was denied entry because she did not have a visa.
After resisting attempts to send her back to the U.S., she was ultimately flown back on Dec. 4 in the company of two French security officials.
Less than two weeks later, she purportedly cut off an electric monitor and got on a bus headed to Canada. She was then apprehended in Buffalo after she was unable to produce a passport.
Ms. Dali has pleaded not guilty to the stowaway charges. Her trial is slated to start next month, according to the AP, though her lawyer and prosecutors are attempting to work out a plea deal.
