Bathroom to Paris: Woman hides in plane to get to France

A woman from New York boarded a flight headed to Paris as a stowaway (someone who hides on a ship or an airplane in order to travel without paying or being seen) and bypassed security checks by hopping between bathrooms. 

As per international media, she is going to remain in France for some time as she has also disrupted a return flight to the US that was booked for her.

57-year-old Svetlana Dali boarded a jam-packed Thanksgiving flight without a ticket before it departed from John F Kennedy Airport in New York. 

The American Transportation Security Administration (TSA) asserted that while Dali went through property security channels, she never got a boarding pass and did not get her passport checked.

“TSA can confirm that an individual without a boarding pass was physically screened without any prohibited items. The individual bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded the aircraft,” the official statement quoted by The Guardian read. 

However, fellow passengers claimed that Dali managed to escape any suspicion while on the plane by moving from one bathroom to another.

She didn’t take a seat but got caught by flight attendants. 

The matter made it to headlines when a passenger made a video on the plane and shared it on social media. 

The video featured the pilot’s announcement about the stowaway.

Another eye-witness told CNN: “I overheard the flight attendants talking about it with the pilots – they said this person was in one lavatory and then would exit and walk to a different lavatory and go in there for a long time.”

“They’ve directed us to keep everyone on the airplane until we sort out the extra passenger that’s on that plane,” the video showcased the announcement.

Upon arriving in Paris, French officials detained the middle-aged stowaway for not having a visa. 

Initial investigations indicate that she is a Russian national who is also a legal resident of the US.

Dali reportedly requested asylum in France, but this request was swiftly denied.

The stowaway was then put on another Delta flight back to the United States from Paris. 
However, she became “unruly”, which prompted French authorities to remove her from the plane.

So, she is still in the country.