Woman Removed from Delta Flight After Disturbance in Paris
In a bizarre incident on November 30, 2024, a 57-year-old woman who had stowed away on a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris was removed from the return flight after causing a disturbance onboard. The woman, identified as Svetlana Dali, was initially discovered without a boarding pass on Delta flight DL264, which was traveling from New York-JFK to Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) on November 26, 2024. Despite her unauthorized presence, the crew chose to proceed with the flight as scheduled, and she was taken into custody by French police upon arrival.
Dali was escorted onto Delta flight DL265 back to New York on November 30. However, before the plane even left the gate, French authorities were called to handle a “disturbance” caused by Dali. After being apprehended, she was removed from the flight. It is believed that Dali remains in French custody at the time of writing.
It is understood that while French authorities had escorted Dali to the plane, there were no officers assigned to accompany her on the return flight. As the airline responsible for her arrival in France, Delta was liable to ensure her return to the United States. According to reports, Dali, a resident of Philadelphia, holds a green card, though French authorities describe her as a Russian national.
Before boarding the flight, Dali had been detained in a special zone at Charles de Gaulle Airport for individuals awaiting deportation. She had not met the necessary criteria to enter the European Union. A fellow passenger on the flight described Dali as repeatedly stating she did not want to return to the U.S., invoking the Geneva Convention in her comments.
U.S. federal authorities have reportedly decided not to charge Dali with a federal crime, though she may face state charges in New York, including criminal trespassing. She could also face a civil penalty for bypassing the TSA document check process.
The incident began at New York-JFK, where Dali somehow managed to board the flight without a boarding pass or passport, bypassing TSA’s identity verification and boarding checks. TSA officials confirmed that she underwent a body scan but somehow avoided both document checks and boarding status verification before reaching the gate.
Authorities from both the TSA and French law enforcement are investigating how Dali was able to board the international flight without the required documentation. Meanwhile, Delta Airlines is cooperating with the investigations to understand how this security lapse occurred and ensure that such incidents do not happen again in the future.
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