A Russian woman who stowed away on a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris last week is on her way back to the United States.
The woman left Paris on Wednesday aboard a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport shortly after 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) and is en route to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The 57-year-old was escorted onto the Delta Air Lines-operated plane by two French security officials. “Everything is going to plan,” an airport official said.
She sat quietly in the back of the aircraft in the middle aisle. Occasionally she leaned her head against the seat in front of her, staring down at the floor or closed her eyes and listened to music.
She was flanked by security officials on both sides.
Woman who sneaked onto Paris flight bypassed checkpoints by jumping into different security lines.
Two previous attempts to send her back to the US were abandoned after she started screaming after boarding a plane Saturday and on Tuesday when Delta refused to fly her after she boarded. Delta has declined to comment on its reasons for refusing to transport her.
Wednesday’s flight is scheduled to arrive in New York at 5:25 p.m. ET, and US authorities will meet the woman at the airport for questioning.
“I’m a little bit nervous. She passed security which means there was a failure somewhere,” Zaid Haddad, a passenger on Wednesday’s flight told CNN. “I’m glad there’s security with her.”
The initial incident, in which the woman hid in the airplane lavatory on one of the busiest travel days of the year, has raised serious questions about airport security after she was able to bypass multiple checkpoints.
The woman first bypassed an airport terminal employee in charge of the line for the Known Crewmember checkpoint at JFK Airport’s Terminal 4 and bypassed stations where her ID and boarding pass would have been checked, a TSA spokesperson told CNN.
At the gate, she placed herself in the middle of what appeared to be a family traveling together, according to a senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. She was not carrying any prohibited items, according to a TSA spokesperson.
Delta said it is working with law enforcement and conducting an investigation of its own.
“Nothing is of greater importance than matters of safety and security,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. “That’s why Delta is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred and will work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end.”
CNN
