Phylacteries

Phylacteries:A US Airways plane has been diverted to Philadelphia after a prayer device worn by a Jewish teenager onboard a flight was mistaken as a bomb.

The man had strapped the Phylacteries – two small black boxes with black straps – around his arms and head after take-off – causing alarm to other passengers who reported him to the crew.

The plane, which was heading for Louisville, Kentucky, from New York’s La Guardia airport, landed at around 2pm (GMT) today.

Bomb scare: The U.S Airways flight was en route to Kentucky when it diverted

At least 12 emergency vehicles, including the Philadelphia bomb squad, rushed to the airport and the man was taken for questioning.

No arrests have been made, according to officers.

Passengers onboard the 50-seater regional jet – USAir Flight 3079 run by Chautequa Air – were led to safety.

Phylacteries, called tefillin in Hebrew, are used by observant Jewish men – they are required to place one box on their head and tie the other one on their arm each weekday morning.

‘Someone on the plane construed it as some kind of device,’ Christine O’Brien, a spokesman for Philadelphia police, said.

U.S. airports are on high alert after a Nigerian man was held over an alleged bomb plot on a plane on Christmas Day last year.

His device allegedly malfunctioned and he was quickly overpowered by passengers and crew on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit

Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is awaiting trial after denying trying to blow up the transatlantic jet.

Tefillin

Tefillin:A Jewish prayer box worn by a teen passenger caused a Thursday morning furor on a flight from LaGuardia Airport, forcing an emergency landing in Philadelphia, authorities said.

The mix-up involved the 17-year-old boy’s tefillin, a black box filled with Biblical verses and tied with leather straps to his head, said Philadelphia police Lt. Frank Vanore.

Fears of a potential terrorist attack led the Louisville, Ky.,-bound flight to instead land at Philadelphia International Airport just before 9 a.m., authorities said.

All 15 passengers and 3 crew members aboard U.S. Airways Express Flight 3709 were safely evacuated after the sudden landing, said airline spokesman Jim Olson.

Although the teen explained the significance of the tefillin to the crew, the pilot opted to land the plane in Philadelphia anyway, Vanore said.

The tefillin-wearing youth was traveling with his sister from New York to Louisville. The boxes – a second one is tied around the arm – are typically worn by men in certain Orthodox Jewish communities.

The flight was met by law enforcement personnel and officials from the Transportation Security Administration.

The teen was interviewed and the plane swept for explosive devices, with nothing found, the TSA said in a statement.

Vanore said the unidentified youth was cooperative with authorities after the plane landed.