Convicted Russian stowaway strikes again, lands in Milan on United flight without ticket
A Russian citizen previously convicted of stowing away has allegedly done it again — this time sneaking onto a flight from Newark Liberty International Airport without a ticket, according to reports.
Svetlana Dali is accused of bypassing security in Newark and boarding a flight to Milan on Wednesday, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter.
The Associated Press reported that Dali, a U.S. resident, allegedly made it past the ticket agent and was not seen by the flight crew until the plane was in the air.
Dali, who is in her late 50s, is now in Milan, according to the source, and had been taken into custody Thursday at Malpensa Airport.
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As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Dali was already convicted in Brooklyn federal court on a stowaway charge from a November 2024 incident during which she boarded a Delta flight from New York to Paris without a ticket.
In July 2025, she was sentenced to time served and one year of supervised release and was ordered to pay a fee of $100.
Prosecutors said Dali bypassed security at JFK Airport and walked onto the Delta plane without a boarding pass, eventually being found in the airline’s bathroom.
Dali had argued she boarded the flight to seek medical treatment because she thought the military had poisoned her. A jury found her guilty.
Dali appealed the ruling, and the appellate case is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Fox News Digital has learned.
According to court documents, Dali submitted a brief in December 2025 with the government expected to respond by March 4, 2026.
Dali has also been involved in other airport security breaches.
In February 2024, customs agents reportedly discovered her hiding in a bathroom in a secure international arrivals area at Miami International Airport.
Dali reportedly claimed she had just arrived on an Air France flight, but a government memo states there was no record of her being on a flight that day or of her departing the U.S. at any point in the previous five years.
Prosecutors also said that, two days before the JFK incident, Dali accessed a secure area of the departures terminal at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut.
On Thursday, FBI spokesperson Emily Molinari told The Associated Press the agency’s Newark office was "aware of the alleged stowaway."
The FBI is working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark Liberty International Airport, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) "on this open investigation," Molinari said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the FBI, TSA and United Airlines for comment.