Prayer box mistaken for bomb, forces landing in Philly
JD Sal
Posts: 790
Ignorance on the part of the flight crew or imprudent decision by the religious passenger?
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/break ... stody.html
By Peter Mucha
Inquirer Staff Report
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.
He said there were 15 to 18 passengers on the plane and no one assaulted the boy.
Police decided by 8:45 a.m. that there was no threat and that the flight could continue.
The boy and his sister reportedly decided to stay behind and were waiting for relatives to arrive from New York to pick them up.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/break ... stody.html
By Peter Mucha
Inquirer Staff Report
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.
He said there were 15 to 18 passengers on the plane and no one assaulted the boy.
Police decided by 8:45 a.m. that there was no threat and that the flight could continue.
The boy and his sister reportedly decided to stay behind and were waiting for relatives to arrive from New York to pick them up.
"If no one sees you, you're not here at all"
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... usalem.jpg
these need to be put on during certain specific hours of the morning every day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefillin
Point taken, I realize that this is a religious issue ... I am just wondering if there was a different way this could have been handled. If nothing else, this issue getting press might make it more likely that folks don't overreact the next time a Jewish person dons their prayer boxes on a plane.