For the first time, newly released security footage shows the moment an alleged stowaway sneaked onto a transatlantic flight just before last Thanksgiving in a stunning breach of security.
Svetlana Dali is accused of boarding an overnight Delta flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Nov. 26 and traveling to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in France without having a ticket.
Dali can be seen in a video obtained by ABC News walking up to gate B38 at Terminal 4 while other passengers have their boarding passes and passports checked. After gate attendants assisted a separate group of customers and ushered them toward the jet bridge, Dali followed immediately behind, the video shows.
In this still from video, Svetlana Dali is seen walking past the gate attendants at the rear of a large group of people. Dali, who is faced away from the camera, is wearing a gray hoodie and carries both a green backpack and black bag.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Wearing a gray hoodie and carrying both a green backpack and a black bag, Dali appeared to blend in with the crowd, passing by the gate attendants and walking toward the flight.
“This was very unusual and disconcerting,” Richard Frankel, a former FBI special agent in charge of investigations at JFK who is now an ABC News contributor, said after reviewing the video. “She just basically gloms onto the back of that group and goes in as if she’s part of a group.”
“Delta agents, who were busy helping ticketed passengers board, did not stop her or ask her to present a boarding pass before she boarded the plane,” an FBI complaint said, adding that Dali later stated “she knew her conduct was illegal.”
Dali later pleaded not guilty to a federal stowaway charge.
Booking photo for Svetlana Dali who was arrested for the second time this month on Dec. 16. 2024, after she cut off her ankle monitor and tried to sneak into Canada, Dec. 15, 2024, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Niagara County Sheriff’s Office
“Our review affirms that Delta’s security infrastructure, as part of our Safety Management System framework, is sound and that deviation from standard procedures is the root cause of this event,” a Delta spokesperson told ABC News. “As nothing is of greater importance than safety and security, we will continue to work closely with our regulators, law enforcement and other relevant stakeholders.”
A separate closed-circuit video from earlier that evening shows Dali going through the TSA screening machine at Terminal 4 and being patted down by a TSA agent.
“I think she planned it, but it’s also luck of the draw,” Frankel said. “I think she had her game plan and … her game plan really worked.”
Delta airplanes sit on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on January 31, 2020 in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Dali, a Russian citizen and U.S. permanent resident who most recently lived in Philadelphia, was ultimately spotted by Delta employees before the plane landed in France, according to the FBI complaint. The complaint stated that Dali was unable to provide a boarding pass and that once the plane landed, French law enforcement would not allow her to pass the customs area.
Officials attempted to send Dali back to the United States on another flight shortly after, ABC News previously reported, but Dali was removed from the plane after insisting against her return.
She was eventually brought back to New York to face charges. After being released, Dali allegedly cut off her ankle monitor and traveled to Buffalo, where she tried to cross over the Peace Bridge into Canada.
Dali’s public defender declined to comment.
The surveillance videos were released in response to a request ABC News filed in December with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airports in the New York metropolitan area.
The FBI’s complaint against Dali stated that there is also surveillance footage of Dali “bypassing TSA officials” at JFK. The FBI alleges that Dali had been turned away by a TSA official the night of the flight for not having a boarding pass, but was eventually able to make it through the TSA area “without a boarding pass by entering through a special lane for airline employees masked by a large Air Europa flight crew.”
Footage of Dali in that area was not released by the Port Authority. The agency told ABC News that releasing additional video footage “could jeopardize the security of the buildings or facilities or the persons therein,” adding that “providing multiple camera angles of a facility or incident could allow for inferences to be made as to vulnerabilities or blind spots in surveillance cameras.”
In a statement to ABC News, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said that a review of the incident has been conducted.
“As a result of our review, additional security measures are now in place,” Farbstein said. “TSA’s security measures are always evolving to ensure this type of incident does not happen again.”
Dali is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. She is due back in federal court on April 22.
