Repeat Airline Stowaway Is Detained Again

She's apparently done it again. Repeat stowaway Svetlana Dali was detained in Italy after allegedly slipping onto a United Airlines flight from Newark to Milan without a ticket, reports NBC News. Crew members reportedly discovered she wasn't on the manifest only after the Boeing 777 was airborne Wednesday evening. Dali, a Russian citizen with US residency, was convicted last year of stowing away on a Delta flight from New York to Paris in November 2024 and was sentenced to time served.

In that previous case, she managed to avoid a TSA identity check, blended in with the boarding crowd, then hid in bathrooms for most of the flight before being caught, per the New York Times. Authorities say she has a further history of airport breaches, including getting past security at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut and being found in a secure bathroom area at Miami International Airport in 2024.