Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN) - A Jewish prayer box worn by a teenage passenger was mistaken for an explosive device and forced a USA Airways Express pilot to divert a flight Thursday as a precaution.
Flight 3079 with 15 passengers took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport past 8 a.m. for Louisville, Kentucky and landed at the Philadephia airport around 8:30 a.m. without incident. The 17-year-old boy and his sister explained to investigators the use of the black leather boxes called tefillin.
A stewardess apparently saw the boy strapping the boxes on his left arm and forehead as part of a prayer ritual. The crew inquired about the boxes but did not understand the boy's explanation so she alerted the pilot.
The pilot reported to Philadelphia airport authorities that a device with wires was onboard and he is making an unscheduled landing, according to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan. The tefillin straps were mistaken as wires, Sullivan said.
Police later ruled there was no threat to the plane and its passengers, who were booked on other flights.
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