In a surprising revelation, a woman who managed to bypass security and stow away on a New York-to-Paris flight last November has confessed to attempting to infiltrate secure areas of various U.
S. airports in an effort to travel without a ticket.
Svetlana Dali, a 57-year-old Russian woman with permanent U.S. residency, admitted to investigators that she had tried to travel for free at several domestic airports, according to assistant U.S. attorney Brooke Theodora. Theodora shared these details during a bail hearing in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, expressing the government's concern that Dali might abscond while awaiting trial on a stowaway charge. "Those attempts included one last February at Miami international airport, where Dali was turned away as she tried to sneak into a secure area by going through a customs processing area to reach departing flights," Theodora said.
The prosecutor urged for stringent bail conditions to ensure that Dali, who is currently unemployed, would attend her court hearings. Dali, who appeared in court in a brown jailhouse uniform and limping with a cane, communicated with her lawyer through a Russian interpreter. She had previously been treated and released from a hospital for undisclosed medical reasons.
US magistrate judge Joseph A Marutollo agreed to release Dali with electronic monitoring and strict pretrial conditions, including a ban from all airports and a requirement that she reside at the Philadelphia home of a man she met at church functions and adhere to a curfew. "She must undergo any mental health treatment required by the pretrial services department, an arm of Brooklyn federal court," Marutollo added.
Michael Schneider, Dali's court-appointed lawyer, argued that his client, who has no criminal history after being a permanent resident of the US for over a decade, was involved in "what could have been an aberrant act in a certain mental health state that's not going to happen in the future". Schneider compared her offense to jumping a turnstile to enter the citys subway system, a comparison Theodora vehemently objected to, citing "very significant national security concerns and very significant public security risks for obvious reasons".
As reported by the criminal complaint, Dali flew to Paris as a stowaway on a Delta Air Lines flight on 26 November before returning to Kennedy international airport on Wednesday. `She allegedly evaded Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers by blending in with a flight crew entering a special lane for airline employees during security screening, without having to present a ticket. She was discovered illegally aboard the plane once it was airborne. Upon arrival in Paris on 27 November, French law enforcement authorities detained her before she entered customs.
Delta Air Lines, in a statement, assured that its security infrastructure was sound and that "deviation from standard procedures is the root cause of this event". The airline is taking measures to prevent such a breach from happening again, emphasizing that "nothing is of greater importance than safety and security". The case of Svetlana Dali serves as a stark reminder of the need for stringent security measures and the potential risks posed by any lapses in these procedures.
Login