The Delta Paris Stowaway Incident Keeps Getting Stranger

Earlier this week, I wrote about how a Delta flight from New York to Paris had an unaccounted for passenger onboard (as first flagged by @xJonNYC). Amazingly enough, the plane made it most of the way to Paris before the crew caught on, so the traveler ended up being confronted by authorities upon arrival.

There’s now an interesting update to this story, as the same traveler was removed from a flight for a second time. Let’s recap the details of the outbound flight, and then talk about what happened on the return.

Delta flight from New York to Paris had extra passenger

This incident happened on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, and involves Delta flight DL264 from New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG). The flight was operated by a Boeing 767-400 with the registration code N845MH.

At some point during the flight, flight attendants became suspicious, when they noticed one woman that kept moving between lavatories, and staying in them for a long time. As a result, the flight attendants notified the pilots.

After the 6hr49min flight, the plane landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport at around 11:45AM on Wednesday. Upon arriving at the gate, the captain made an announcement, asking all passengers to remain seated, as police boarded the plane:

“Folks, this is the captain, we are just waiting for the police to come on board. They may be here now and they directed us to keep everyone on the airplane until we sort out the extra passenger that’s on the plane.”

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— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) November 27, 2024 at 1:27 PM

Here’s the statement that Delta provided about the incident, confirming that the company is investigating what happened:

“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.”

Meanwhile here’s a statement provided by the TSA, confirming that a person managed to go through the security screening process without a boarding pass:

“TSA can confirm that an individual without a boarding pass completed the airport security screening without any prohibited items. The individual bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations and was able to board the aircraft.”

57-year-old Russian woman was seeking asylum

When this incident first happened, there were lots of questions about who this woman was, and what her motives were for being on the flight:

• In many developing countries, we see people take drastic and dangerous measures to be a stowaway, in hopes of a better life; however, for flights from the United States, that’s usually not the motive
• Was it mental illness of some sort, and/or a game for the person? Some may remember the Bay Area’s “serial stowaway,” who obviously fit into this category

We’re now starting to learn more details. The stowaway on this flight was a 57-year-old woman who lives in the Philadelphia area. She’s a Russian national, but has a US Green Card. Upon landing in Paris, she requested asylum, though ultimately ended up being rejected. This was reportedly not her first time requesting asylum, as she had made a similar request in France years ago.

Traveler removed from return flight to US due to behavior

The traveler had spent three days in custody in France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport, given her (denied) request for asylum. On Saturday, November 30, 2024, she was supposed to be returned to the United States.

She was booked on DL265 back to New York, on a flight also operated by a Boeing 767-400, with the registration code N840MH. She was brought to the aircraft by authorities, but wasn’t going to be escorted back to the United States by police.

While she boarded the aircraft, she ended up being removed before departure, as she reportedly had a disruptive outburst, and refused to cooperate with the crew.

This must have been quite a messy situation, because the flight was scheduled to depart at 2:30PM, but only ended up taking off at 5:16PM, and it landed in New York over two hours behind schedule.

As of now, the woman remains in French custody. Presumably she’ll be returned to the United States, though the logistics of that remain to be seen.

Bottom line

Several days ago, a woman managed to board a Delta Boeing 767 from New York to Paris without a ticket. The crew eventually became suspicious, when they noticed her repeatedly moving between lavatories.

The Russian national with a US Green Card requested asylum upon landing in Paris, and it wasn’t her first time making such a request. She was ultimately denied, and a few days later, was put on a Delta flight back to the United States.

Unfortunately that wasn’t so straightforward, since she had an outburst on the return flight, and refused to cooperate with the crew. As a result, she was removed from the flight, and remains in French custody.

What do you make of this Delta stowaway incident?