A repeat stowaway offender was caught aboard a flight from Newark to Milan on Wednesday, sources familiar with the matter said, more than a year after she pulled a similar stunt on a New York-to-Paris jet.
Svetlana Dali was taken into custody in Italy after allegedly sneaking onto United Flight 19 at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, which departed at about 5:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Dali made it past ticketing agents, and when the United in-flight crew realized she was aboard without a ticket, the Boeing 777-200 was already over the Atlantic Ocean, according to sources.
The accused stowaway pretended she couldn’t hear questions from crew when asked if she had a ticket or was improperly traveling, one source familiar with the matter said.
Svetlana Dali, right, after sneaking onto a United Airlines flight.Obtained by NBC News
In May, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Dali, a Russian citizen with U.S. residency, on a stowaway charge stemming from her unauthorized Delta Air Lines journey from New York to Paris on Nov. 26, 2024.
She was sentenced to time served for that unauthorized French journey.
Two days before getting on to that Paris flight, Dali sneaked through security at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Connecticut, but was caught before she could get on a plane, officials said.
Svetlana Dali walks past Delta departure gate agents without a boarding pass at New York’s JFK airport on Nov. 26, 2024.TODAY
And earlier that year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents found Dali hiding in a bathroom in a secured area of Miami International Airport, officials said.
Representatives for U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI declined comment on Thursday.
It wasn’t immediately clear on Thursday if Dali had hired or been assigned an attorney to speak on her behalf.
