Delta Air Lines will now fly the Russian woman who stowed away on a flight to Paris last week back to New York on 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 onboard 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 Tuesday. “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 57-year-old woman got past multiple security checkpoints at JFK and boarded a plane to Paris last week.
She was scheduled to be on a flight to the US on Saturday afternoon but French authorities removed her from the aircraft after she started screaming, according to an official.
A man who was on the plane told CNN that 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 American marshals on Tuesday’s flight back to New York, the Paris official said, though it was not immediately clear which agency was involved. The US Marshals Service said it was not.
Authorities in the US are continuing to investigate how the woman sneaked onto the initial Delta flight without a ticket.
Inspectors from the Transportation Security Administration 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.
