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Stowaway who hid aboard a plane from the U.S. to France will be sent back, officials say

The woman reportedly hid in a bathroom aboard the plane for most of the flight.
file photo a Delta Air Lines passenger jet plane
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A stowaway who flew from New York to Paris this week will be denied entry to France and returned to the U.S., French officials said Friday.

Police in France say they arrested a Russian national with U.S. residency who had boarded a Delta Air Lines flight without a ticket. The woman was being held in Paris until she could be returned to the U.S.

The flight left John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Tuesday and arrived in Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Wednesday. The woman reportedly hid in a bathroom aboard the plane for most of the flight.

Officials say the individual did not have a boarding pass. A spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration says the agency screened the passenger who didn't have a pass and who wasn't carrying anything prohibited on a plane.

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“TSA takes any incidents that occur at any of our checkpoints nationwide seriously,” the spokesperson said. “TSA will independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document checker station at JFK.”

"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," the airline said in a statement.