[Infowarrior] - Prayer box mistaken for bomb, forces jet to land in Philly

[Richard Forno]

Prayer box mistaken for bomb, forces jet to land in Philly
By Peter Mucha

Inquirer Staff Report

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/82249402.html?cmpid=15585797

A teenager strapping Jewish religious ritual prayer boxes to his head  
and arm caused a scare on a plane from New York to Kentucky this  
morning, prompting the pilot to land in Philadelphia, officials said.
Police determined there was no threat and the 17-year-old boy and his  
16-year-old sister, who live in White Plains, N.Y., were not held.

USA Airways Express Flight 3079 was en route from New York's LaGuardia  
Airport to Louisville about 8:15 a.m. when a stewardess saw the youth  
strapping on his tefillin.

Tefillin, also known as phylacteries, are leather boxes containing  
scriptures with leather straps that observant Jews wear on their arms  
and head during prayer.

Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan said the  
stewardess became concerned and alerted the pilot.

"It's something they never seen before," Sullivan said.

Taking no chances, the pilot decided to make an unscheduled landing in  
Philadelphia and reported a man with a device with "wires" on the plane.

The wires turned out to be the leather straps, officials said.

Police were notified about 8:23 a.m. and federal and city law  
enforcement vehicles surrounded the plane after it touched down.

They took the jet to a remote area and removed the boy and his sister  
from the plane. The pair explained what the boy was doing with the  
tefillin, Sullivan said.

Police decided by 8:45 a.m. that there was no threat, Sullivan said.

A Transportation Safety Administration statement called the  
unscheduled landing a "disrputive passenger" incident and made no  
mention of circumstances described by police.

U.S. Airways said there 15 passengers on the plane. No one took action  
against the youth and the plane landed without incident. Passengers  
continuing to Louisville were being booked on another flight.

The boy and his sister reportedly decided to stay behind and were  
waiting for relatives to arrive from New York to pick them up.