Last month, a remarkable incident unfolded on a Delta Airlines flight from New York City to Paris. A woman, Svetlana Dali, found herself at the center of a legal storm as she was charged in federal court. According to legal documents obtained by PEOPLE, Dali was accused of boarding Delta flight DL264 without a ticket on November 26th from John F. Kennedy International Airport in N.Y.C. to Charles de Gaulle Airport in France.

Legal Proceedings and Court Appearance

As reported by multiple outlets including NBC News and CNN, Dali, a reported Russian national who once lived in the Philadelphia area, made an appearance in court in Brooklyn on Thursday, December 5th. She attended alongside attorney Michael Schneider and a Russian translator. It is stated that she could face up to five years in prison and has not yet entered a plea. Her attorney previously compared her offense to “turnstile hopping,” emphasizing that she had passed a security checkpoint and agreed to a temporary order of detention to form a bail package. Dali's attorney declined to provide additional comment to PEOPLE on Friday, December 5th.

Security Checkpoint Incidents

Dali initially failed to get through a TSA security checkpoint around 8:24 p.m. on the day of the flight as she did not have a boarding pass. However, she managed to make it through a few minutes later via “a special lane for airline employees masked by a large Air Europa flight crew,” as noted in the document. After being screened, she boarded the flight around 10:03 p.m. while Delta agents were “busy helping ticketed passengers board.” The plane departed around 10:37 p.m., but before landing in Paris, she was discovered by the flight crew who “notified French law enforcement” after she couldn't provide a boarding pass. Authorities in France met her at the gate at Charles de Gaulle Airport on November 27th and detained her before she entered customs. Dali flew back to New York on December 4th and was “escorted” to an interview room where she admitted to “flying as a stowaway.” The document claims that she stated she did not have a plane ticket and intentionally evaded TSA security officials and Delta employees. When shown images from the airport security footage by an FBI agent, she confirmed that the images were of her and admitted that her conduct was illegal.

TSA and Delta's Responses

TSA Administrator David Pekoske emphasized that Dali was “screened” and that bypassing security checkpoints is “not that easy” and “rarely happens.” He added that she was trying to evade checkpoints during an “incredibly busy day” of Thanksgiving travel. A TSA spokesperson previously told PEOPLE that she “bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded the aircraft.” A Delta spokesperson said the airline “is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred and will work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end.” The airline added last month that it would “decline further comment…given ongoing investigations.”As previously reported by CBS and CNN, Dali was also removed from her return flight to New York on Saturday, November 30th after causing a disruption. She flew back to New York on December 4th.