A stowaway snuck onto a Delta Air Lines flight and managed to get a free ride across the Atlantic Ocean amid the Thanksgiving travel surge.
The trespasser was met with law enforcement once the Boeing 767-400 touched down in Paris, cutting her vacation short. She remains in police custody as she waits for her hearing.
The Thanksgiving Seat Thief
An unidentified woman managed to board a Delta Air Lines flight at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York City on Wednesday. Delta Flight 264 took off at 2237 Eastern Standard Time and landed in Paris, France precisely at 1200 Central European Time.
According to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official, the woman was able to avoid identity verification and boarding pass stations. She did, however, complete a security screening.
One of the flight’s passengers, Rob Jackson, recalled the woman was hiding in a restroom in the Boeing jet.
“The first announcement to passengers that there was a problem was when we parked at the gate and they instructed us all to remain seated because French police were going to board the aircraft to deal with ‘a serious security issue,’” Jackson told CNN.
The flight was booked full, leaving the woman with no place to sit. According to Jackson, attendants noticed the woman moving back and forth between multiple restrooms whenever a passenger needed to use them.
Delta Stowaway Earns Another Flight
She was ejected from the plane as soon as it landed at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. According to officials, the woman applied for asylum in France years ago.
The female stowaway is in between 55 and 60 years old. She has a passport in Russian and will be directed back to the United States for prosecution.
A Delta spokesperson responded to comment regarding the stowaway:
“Nothing is of greater importance than matters of safety and security. 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.”
Authorities back in New York have no answer yet for how she managed to board the plane. At every airport, all passengers go through security before entering the secure area of the terminal. It is possible that she either snuck past security or boarded that Paris-bound flight after flying on a different flight earlier in the day.
Aviation consultant JP Tristani expressed his criticism of the security blunder to CNN affiliate WABC:
“There’s a failure here that, frankly, 33 years flying worldwide airlines, that is inconceivable to me…We have a gross failure here of security right on down the line.”
