Andrew Kelly/ Reuters
A woman who boarded a transatlantic flight without a ticket or passport got through security in a special lane for airline staff, court documents say.
Svetlana Dali, 57, was charged with being a stowaway on an aircraft. She faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.
In a criminal complaint filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York and seen by Business Insider, an FBI special agent set out the evidence against her.
It says Dali admitted in an interview that she flew as a stowaway on board a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris.
The incident is said to have occurred on November 26. The 2.7 million passengers that passed through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints that day was a record for a Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Thursday's complaint says Dali was first turned away from a checkpoint at John F. Kennedy International Airport's Terminal 4 as she couldn't show a boarding pass.
She tried again five minutes later and was successful, "entering through a special lane for airline employees masked by a large Air Europa flight crew," it adds.
The complaint says that about 90 minutes after being screened by the TSA alongside ticketed passengers, Dali boarded Flight DL264 without presenting a boarding pass.
It adds that Delta agents didn't stop her or ask her to present a boarding pass while they helped other passengers board.
Before the flight landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Delta staff realized Dali was on board the plane, and she couldn't show them a boarding pass, the complaint says.
French authorities met Dali at the gate and detained her after determining she didn't have a boarding pass or passport, it adds.
Dali is said to have admitted in an interview with the FBI agent that she intentionally evaded TSA and Delta staff and confirmed she appeared in security video bypassing them.
The New York Times reported that Dali's lawyer, Michael Schneider, said in court that the charge she faced was "akin to theft of services or jumping a turnstile."
In a statement, Delta thanked French and US authorities for their assistance. The airline said a review found its security infrastructure was "sound" and the incident was caused by a "deviation from standard procedures."
"We are thoroughly addressing this matter and will continue to work closely with our regulators, law enforcement and other relevant stakeholders," the statement added. "Nothing is of greater importance than safety and security."
