Woman who sneaked onto Paris flight bypassed checkpoints by jumping into different security lines, TSA says
By Saskya Vandoorne, Mark Morales, John Miller, Pete Muntean and Taylor Romine, CNN
Paris (CNN) — A Russian woman who stowed away on a flight from New York to Paris last week was able to sneak through the security checkpoint by starting off in a lane reserved for airline flight crews, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
A TSA spokesperson tells CNN the 57-year-old woman first bypassed an airport terminal employee in charge of the line for the Known Crewmember checkpoint at John F. Kennedy International Airport’s terminal 4 main checkpoint. She then joined the line for standard TSA screening. It was at that point that the woman bypassed stations where her ID and boarding pass would have been checked, the spokesperson said.
This is the most detailed account yet of how she was able to elude security checks and make her way onto the flight.
Once the woman proceeded to the gate, she placed herself in the middle of what appeared to be a family traveling together, according to a senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
Investigators believe a contributing factor may have been the massive holiday weekend crowds at the airport. The TSA said it screened nearly 2.7 million passengers at US airports on that Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
The new information on how the woman got past security comes after Delta Air Lines refused to allow her to fly back to New York Tuesday, delaying her return flight until Wednesday, a Paris airport official told CNN.
The woman was due to leave France on a flight at 2:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET) Tuesday. She was on board the plane when Delta refused to fly her, according to the official.
When contacted by CNN for details, Delta declined to comment or say why the woman was not allowed to fly. “We are going to try to send her back again with a French escort,” the French official said.
She is now scheduled to fly back to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport escorted by two French security officials on a Delta flight Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. local time, according to the official.
The woman was originally scheduled to be returned to the United States on a Delta flight Saturday afternoon. But after she boarded the plane she started screaming, and French authorities removed her, according to an official. She was then rebooked on Tuesday’s flight.
A man who was on the plane Saturday told CNN the woman was sitting across the aisle from him and his family.
“She kept on saying ‘I do not want to go back to the USA. Only a judge can make me go back to the USA,’” Gary Treichler said.
The woman was expected to be accompanied by six US marshals on Tuesday’s flight back to New York, authorities said.
Inspectors from the TSA are preparing a civil case against the stowaway after reviewing airport security video from inside John F. Kennedy International Airport, agency spokesperson Alexa Lopez told CNN.
“The TSA will open civil cases against passengers when there’s evidence that procedures may have been violated,” Lopez said. The TSA cannot bring criminal charges, though it can refer them to the Justice Department. It’s unclear whether any criminal charges will be filed.
Delta has not said how the woman was able to board the plane once she made it past the TSA checkpoint.
The airline said it “is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred,” but declined further comment.
TSA Administrator David Pekoske said Tuesday the agency occasionally has “a very, very small number” of people who skip the identity verification stage. Speaking at the Aviation Security Summit of the American Association of Airport Executives, Pekoske suggested electronic gates might be a solution to making sure everyone gets screened.
Correction: An earlier version of this story identified the wrong law enforcement agency whose officers accompanied the stowaway. The US Marshals denied any involvement, but it wasn’t immediately clear which agency a Paris official was referencing.
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CNN’s Saskya Vandoorne reported from Paris; Mark Morales and John Miller reported from New York; Pete Muntean reported from Washington, DC; and Taylor Romine wrote from Los Angeles. CNN’s Chris Boyette, Alexandra Skores, Alanne Orjoux and Catherine Nicholls contributed to this report.
