Svetlana Dali is once again making headlines. The fifty-year-old, who is on probation for traveling clandestinely on a flight between New York and Paris at the end of 2024, was arrested after being reintroduced clandestinely on another international flight, this time from Newark (United States) to Milan (Italy) aboard a United Airlines plane, according to the Associated Press.
She was detained on Thursday at Milan Malpensa Airport, as reported by a law enforcement official who was not authorized to disclose further information about the case. An FBI spokesperson, when questioned by the American press agency, confirmed that the Newark office was “aware of the suspected presence of a stowaway passenger”, without providing more details.
The stowaway passenger once again managed to pass through various security checks to board the plane. When the United Airlines crew realized she was onboard without a ticket, the Boeing 777-200 was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, according to NBC News. Svetlana Dali pretended not to hear the crew members’ questions when they asked her if she had a ticket or if she was traveling irregularly, according to a source close to the matter.
Despite being under surveillance, her lawyer Michael Schneider declined to comment on the situation on Thursday when contacted by Associated Press. He also refused to say whether his client had undergone a psychiatric evaluation, as required by the conditions of her probation. “I cannot comment on what she has done since her release. My office is handling the appeal, which is still ongoing,” commented Michael Schneider.
Before this new incident, Svetlana Dali was still under surveillance for a year after completing her sentence in July last year. Among the terms of her probation are prohibitions on leaving the authorized district without court or probation officer approval. She was also ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
Svetlana Dali was convicted in May 2025 for clandestinely boarding a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris, after successfully passing all security checks at JFK Airport in New York.
Surveillance footage showed the Russian national residing in the United States sneaking onto the plane with a group of ticketed passengers, unnoticed by Delta Air Lines staff. Once onboard, she hid in the toilet for several hours and was greeted by French police upon landing. Upon being repatriated to New York, she told an FBI agent that she needed to flee the United States because she believed she had been poisoned.
