How the Delta stowaway bypassed identity and boarding pass checks at the airport

CNN
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On one of the busiest travel days of the year at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport’s largest terminal, security lapses allowed a ticketless passenger to board a plane bound for Paris. This was a shocking breach that one aviation expert said was intended to serve as a “security breach.” “Wake-up call” for the aviation industry.

“It’s a really big deal and it exposes our vulnerabilities to the world,” said Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former U.S. Department of Transportation inspector general.

“Not much went well,” she said of the incident involving a woman a Paris airport official identified as a 57-year-old Russian citizen. French authorities identified the woman as Svetlana Dali, who was returned to New York on a Delta flight on Wednesday. At least a dozen police officers from various agencies were waiting for them at the gate.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, the stowaway did not have a boarding pass but completed a security screening and bypassed identity verification and boarding status stations to board a Delta Air Lines flight on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

The woman had taken hand luggage with her During the baggage check, TSA officers said they found two bottles of water. She was eventually arrested when the plane landed in France.

“Maybe this is an incredibly lucky coincidence because the system is flashing red,” Schiavo said in an interview. “Everyone knows there are threats, and the TSA has just failed horribly, and so has Delta Air Lines.” So if people get this right, this could be the wake-up call we need to keep passengers and people safe , over whose heads we fly.”

A TSA spokesperson told CNN that the woman initially bypassed an airport terminal employee in charge of security screening reserved for the airline’s flight crew at the main checkpoint at JFK Terminal 4.

At that point, the woman left the station, where her ID and boarding pass would have been checked, the spokesman said. She then stood in line for the standard TSA screening process.

It remains unclear how the woman managed to get past the Delta Gate agents at JFK. Delta has not said how the woman was able to board the plane after passing through the TSA checkpoint.

Delta Air Lines said Wednesday evening that it was “thoroughly” addressing what it called a “deviation from standard operating procedures” that allowed the woman to board the plane without a boarding pass. The airline did not provide details but said in a statement it had reviewed its own security and that its infrastructure was “robust.”

The investigators assume that the large crowds at the airport on holiday weekends could have been a reason for this. According to the TSA, nearly 2.7 million people were screened this Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

A review of JFK security camera video shows that the woman first mingled with the flight crew before security and later made her way to the gate, where she then placed herself in the middle of what appeared to be a family traveling together, a senior police officer said of the investigation informed.

She mingled with the group of travelers who presented multiple tickets and passports at the same time, the official said.

“That’s not an excuse,” Schiavo said. “They should treat each person as a separate security threat. The TSA mantra is “every passenger, every time” – they should treat groups no differently than solo travelers – every person must be identified and have a ticket.”

Schiavo – who has represented passengers and crew in numerous US aviation incidents, including cases filed on behalf of the family members of 9/11 victims – told CNN that all checkpoints at the airport are covered by video cameras and the Stowaway “apparently seen on video bypassing airport TSA ID and ticket screening.”

“They already know how she did it and they need to close that loophole,” Schiavo said.

Passengers learned of the stowaway on Delta Flight 264 from JFK to Charles de Gaulle Airport as the plane landed. The pilot told travelers to remain seated as French police boarded to deal with “a serious security issue,” Rob Jackson, who was on the flight, told CNN.

The TSA is conducting its own investigation into the incident, a federal official familiar with the investigation told CNN.

The incident shows that electronic gate technology – called e-gates, which could be integrated into the agency’s facial recognition systems at checkpoints – could prevent incidents like this, although it would require more federal investment, TSA said.

TSA Administrator David P. Pekoske said Tuesday at the American Association of Airport Executives Aviation Security Summit that the agency occasionally has “a very, very small number” of people who skip the identity verification phase undetected. He suggested that electronic gates could be a solution to ensure all passengers are screened.

“This is something we take very seriously,” he said of people bypassing the identity verification station. “When I see something happening systemically within the system, my first question is, ‘Hey, what can we do?’ And one of these solutions would be to install e-gates.”

Pekoske added, “We don’t use e-gates in our system, and that’s a problem.”

Schiavo said bypassing the first identity verification station with its facial recognition technology was one of the glaring mistakes made that day.

“She came in and she didn’t have facial recognition, and obviously they didn’t check to see if she was a ticketed passenger because she wasn’t,” Schiavo said.

Delta said it was “conducting a comprehensive investigation into what may have occurred during boarding,” but declined to comment further.

“Since it is an international flight, they should have checked A. their ticket and B. their passport at the gate. So that’s another check,” Schiavo said. “Of course that didn’t happen. And then she didn’t have an assigned seat. You know, everyone should be seated and wearing a seatbelt, right? This is a federal aviation regulation.”

A source familiar with the incident said the stowaway was able to avoid detection by the flight crew on the plane because the flight was not full, although passengers told CNN the woman was able to hide by moving between lavatories.

“The flight attendants are obliged to check the toilets. Some airlines lock restrooms, but Delta does not require them to be locked upon takeoff,” Schiavo said. “The airlines that are demanding this are obviously there to stop this toilet dodgeball.”

The woman left France on Wednesday on a flight back to JFK. She was escorted onto the plane operated by Delta Air Lines by two French security officers. The flight landed in New York shortly after 5 p.m. ET. Both TSA and law enforcement officials planned to question Dali about how she bypassed airport security. She is expected to face federal charges for stowing away on a ship or plane without consent, according to several law enforcement officials. She faces up to five years in prison.

Separately, the TSA announced on Wednesday that it had opened a civil case against Dali. The authority cannot file criminal charges, only civil penalties. CNN has not seen the civil filing.

On Tuesday, the stowaway was aboard a flight back to New York, but Delta refused to fly him when he became disruptive, according to law enforcement sources. She was scheduled to fly to the United States on Saturday, but French authorities removed her from the plane after she began screaming.

In March, a Texas man was arrested on charges of stowing away on a ship or plane after he boarded a Delta flight in Salt Lake City without a ticket using a photo he took from a boarding pass made by another passenger while he wasn’t looking, according to court documents.

Once on the plane, the man went to the restroom at the front of the plane and spent “a significant amount of time” there while other passengers boarded, the complaint says. After boarding was completed and just before the plane doors were secured, the man went to the back of the plane and entered the restroom, the complaint states.

As the man exited the restroom, a flight attendant noticed there were no seats left and approached him, the complaint says. After the flight attendants found out the man’s name and discovered that he did not have a ticket, the plane returned to the gate and he was met by law enforcement.

Schiavo said the recent stowaway incident highlights the safety gaps in the airline industry.

“What’s really important here is that the world now knows that our security is again – just as it was before 911 – extremely porous,” she said said. “If she had been a terrorist, A. it would have been successful and B. no one would have known who she was.”