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 Milan after allegedly sneaking on to United Flight 19 at Newark Liberty International Airport 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 on board without a ticket, the Boeing 777-200 was already over the Atlantic Ocean.
A federal jury in Brooklyn in May 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.
A previous attorney for Dali and reps for the FBI, TSA and United could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.
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