It’s not there for tourism. The profile of the stowaway passenger on a flight between New York and Paris, arrested upon her arrival on Wednesday, is becoming clearer, French police told the Parisian. By mingling with a group of passengers, she had managed to get on a plane, bypassing the airport’s drastic security checks, before hiding in the aircraft’s toilets.
Six hours into the Delta Airlines flight, a flight attendant alerted the captain, concerned to see a person occupying the toilet for so long. Once the passenger recount ordered by the pilot was carried out, there was no longer any doubt: a stowaway passenger was on board. Firmly awaited by the French authorities upon landing.
Polonium poisoning?
Heard by the border police (PAF) and American liaison officers, the passenger told an astonishing story. Her name is Svetlana D., she is of Russian origin but holds a “green card”, the famous document which allows immigrants to settle for life in the United States. However, this document does not allow him to travel to France.
Her Russian passport has not been valid since 2012 and she has not applied for a visa. To justify her sudden trip, the 57-year-old woman explained that she had been poisoned with polonium by the Russian secret services, with the complicity of their American counterparts. Svetlana D. therefore came to Europe to seek refuge. The medical examinations carried out after these declarations do not confirm his thesis.
After three days in France to be heard, the clandestine was scheduled to take a flight back to the United States on Saturday. But according to a police source, Svetlana D. struggled when an American police officer handcuffed her, and refused to board the plane. Taken back to the “waiting zone for people pending”, she is therefore still awaiting deportation.
