US aeroplane stowaway attempts fresh escape to Canada

Media caption,

Detained stowaway returned to US after refusing deportation

  • Published

A stowaway who allegedly flew from New York to Paris without a ticket last month has been arrested again for trying to escape by bus from the US to Canada.

Svetlana Dali made the attempt after cutting off an ankle monitor that she had been given to wear after the earlier offence, US media reported.

A New York court mandated that she wear the monitor after allegedly flying on a Delta Airlines flight from New York's JFK International Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport without a boarding pass.

During a court hearing, she was ordered not leave Philadelphia unless she was going to New York for meetings regarding her trial.

She was arrested in Buffalo, New York, on Monday, and is due to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.

Ms Dali surprised many when she snuck onto a flight without a boarding pass. She used a special lane for airline employees to get into the security line without a boarding pass, a complaint filed in New York court alleged.

She blended in with a large Air Europa flight crew and, despite not having a ticket, was screened by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents.

The 57-year-old - a Russian national and US permanent resident - slipped past Delta Airline agents who were helping other passengers at the gate.

Ms Dali then boarded the plane and was later arrested in Paris, when the flight landed, after the Delta crew discovered she did not have a ticket.

While on board, she reportedly moved one bathroom to another and never took a seat - until flight attendants began to notice.

"This is the only reported case of unauthorised access when over 18 million passengers were screened at TSA security checkpoints during the busiest Thanksgiving travel season ever," the TSA told CBS News, the BBC's US news partner, days after her arrest. "No one has ever fully breached the TSA security screening process."

After her arrest, Ms Dali unsuccessfully attempted to claim asylum in France, a source familiar with the matter told CBS.

She was flown back to New York earlier this month, where she was taken into custody and charged with obtaining transportation on an aircraft without consent or permission. She appeared in court earlier this month.