How a Stowaway at J.F.Ok. Airport Made It All the Way to Paris

A girl who stowed away on a flight from New York to France final week managed to take action with out a passport, a lot much less a boarding go, federal prosecutors stated on Thursday.

Svetlana Dali, 57, exploited weaknesses within the safety system at Kennedy International Airport through the busiest interval of the 12 months for air journey by mixing in with crowds of boarding vacationers, prosecutors stated.

First, she infiltrated a flight crew and handed by way of a checkpoint with them. Then, she slipped previous Delta Air Lines staff, who didn’t ask for a boarding go, and onto a totally booked airplane, they stated. While on the airplane Ms. Dali tried to keep away from detection through the seven-hour flight to Charles de Gaulle Airport close to Paris by ducking into the plane’s bogs.

Ms. Dali, who’s believed to have migrated to the United States from Russia, was arraigned in federal courtroom in Brooklyn on Thursday on a cost of “secreting aboard a vessel.” She was arrested at Kennedy Airport by F.B.I. brokers upon her return Wednesday night after spending a few week within the custody of French authorities.

Ms. Dali faces a most penalty of 5 years in jail if discovered responsible of sneaking aboard an plane in an incident that raises troubling questions on airport safety. Magistrate Judge Robert Levy ordered Ms. Dali to be held till 2 p.m. Friday whereas her bail was determined and her residence was verified.

Prosecutors needed to make sure she had a steady residence, stated Brooke Theodora, an assistant United States legal professional for the Eastern District of New York. “We’re involved for a threat of flight right here relatively than the character of the offense.”