She’s Done it Again: Serial Stowaway Snuck Onboard a United Airlines Flight to Italy From Newark

A serial airline stowaway who made international headlines in November 2024 when she managed to sneak on board a Delta Air Lines flight to Paris unnoticed and was only caught when the plane was on approach to Charles de Gaulle Airport has reportedly done it again.

This time round, Svetlana Dali reportedly snuck on board a United Airlines flight bound for Milan, Italy, from Newark (EWR) on Wednesday evening and made it all the way to the Italian fashion capital.

The exact circumstances of how exactly Dali managed to get on board United flight UA-19 undetected haven’t been disclosed, but law enforcement sources cited by ABC News claim she was taken into custody by Italian police after the plane had touched down in Milan.

Flight tracking data supplied by Flight Radar 24 shows that the Boeing 777-200 departed Newark at around 5:50 pm on February 25, crossing the Atlantic in just over seven hours and landing at Milan Malpensa (MXP) at 7:15 am on Thursday.

If Svetlana’s last international stowaway incident is anything to go by, it could be quite a challenge to get her back to the United States.

The 58-year-old, originally from Russia, managed to evade gate agents and flight attendants when she boarded Delta flight DL-264 from New York JFK to Paris on November 26, 2024, reportedly hiding in the airplane restrooms for the majority of the flight because all the seats onboard were occupied.

Towards the end of the flight, however, flight attendants became suspicious and challenged Dali. Only at this point did it become apparent that Dali was a stowaway, and the police were called to meet the aircraft when it landed in Paris.

Dali reportedly tried to claim asylum in France, but her application was quickly rejected, and local authorities tried to have her removed back to the United States.

As Delta was the airline responsible for flying her to France, it was up to the airline to fly her back, but the first attempt had to be abandoned after she started to cause a disturbance on the plane prior to take off.

In the end, she was returned to the United States, but a court initially granted her bail on the condition that she wear an electronic ankle tag. Just days later, Dali cut the GPS monitor off and fled on a bus from her home in Philadelphia towards Canada.

Dali was apprehended at the border with Canada and returned to jail while court proceedings for the stowaway offense continued. Last July, she was found guilty and sentenced to time served. Dali has appealed her conviction, but the case is yet to be heard.

Questions will no doubt be asked about the effectiveness of the TSA at Newark Airport following this latest incident.

In Dali’s November 2024 stowaway incident, she hid behind a group of pilots and flight attendants for a foreign airline to bypass the standard boarding pass check that gives travelers access to the TSA security checkpoint.

At the time, the TSA insisted that Dali had undergone security checks just like any other traveler, meaning she wasn’t carrying anything with her that could cause harm.

Once through TSA, Dali headed to the gate where she waited until the gate agents were distracted helping other passengers to sneak past them without anyone noticing.

The TSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

United Airlines said in a statement: “Safety and security are our highest priorities. We are investigating this incident and working with the appropriate authorities.”