✈️ A woman previously convicted of stowing away on an international flight has been caught again — this time on a plane from Newark to Italy.

🚨 Svetlana Dali was taken into custody after the United flight landed in Milan.

⚖️ She was convicted in Brooklyn last year for sneaking onto a Delta flight at JFK.


NEWARK — A woman previously convicted of stowing away on an international flight has been caught again, this time on a plane that left from New Jersey.

Svetlana Dali, whose last known address was in Philadelphia, was accused of sneaking onto an Italy-bound flight from Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday evening.

“TSA is aware and the incident is under investigation,” a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration said in response to New Jersey 101.5 on Friday.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark and JFK airports, referred the request for comment to the TSA and United Airlines.

The United flight departed Newark from Gate C74 at Terminal C on Wednesday, online records showed.

Dali was taken into custody after United Flight 19 touched down in Milan, Italy.

Svetlana Dali is accused of sneaking onto a flight from Newark to Italy, after a similar offense in 2024 (ABC7 Eyewitness News via Youtube)
Svetlana Dali is accused of sneaking onto a flight from Newark to Italy, after a similar offense in 2024 (ABC7 Eyewitness News via Youtube)
loading...

Prior conviction for JFK Delta flight stowaway

A few days before Thanksgiving on Nov. 26, 2024, the Russian national with U.S. residency successfully dodged TSA security officials and Delta employees at JFK Airport in Queens, New York.

Flight crew figured out that Dali was aboard without a boarding pass, and French law enforcement met her at the gate and detained her before customs.

On Dec.4, 2024, Dali was flown back to New York where she faced a federal charge.

In May 2025, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Dali on a stowaway charge and she was sentenced to time served.

Last year, Dali was under home monitoring when she cut off the ankle device and tried to flee to Canada, the New York Daily News reported.

ABC7 Eyewitness News reported on Dali's second time arrested with video clips from her last time caught illegally boarding a flight to France.

LOOK: 20 of the strangest natural phenomena in America

From fire rainbows to bioluminescent bays, America is home to some truly bizarre natural phenomena. See Stacker's list of 20 of the strangest natural phenomena in the U.S.

Gallery Credit: Martha Sandoval

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom

The 100 Best Places to Live on the East Coast

More From 92.7 WOBM