A plane from New York's La Guardia Airport was diverted to Philadelphia after a teenage passenger put on a religious item disrupting the flight Thursday morning.

Authorities say, Chautauqua Airlines flight 3079 from LaGuardia to Louisville was diverted to Philadelphia after a 17-year-old male strapped on a "tefillin" for prayer purposes after takeoff.

Philadelphia police say a female flight attendant had never seen tefillin before, which has two small black boxes with black straps attached to them and one box was placed on his head and the other tied to his arm. The attendant became alarmed and reported it.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says they were notified of a "disruptive passenger" on the plane and as a result was diverted to Philly.

The plane that departed LaGuardia at 7:25 a.m. landed in Philadelphia at 8:50 a.m. and the teen and his 16-year-old sister were met by Homeland Security and the Philadelphia Police Bomb Squad.

"Per standard procedures, TSA and law enforcement personnel met the flight. The disruptive passenger was interviewed, the plane was swept with negative findings," said the TSA.

Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan said the passenger was"completely cooperative." After being removed from the plane, the teen explained it was a religious device and officers determined it was"harmless" and was of no threat.

The commuter plane operated by Chautauqua Airlines under the US Airways name was occupied by 15 passengers who according to sources were unaware of the incident.

The plane was allowed to then continue to the gate where the passengers were interviewed by the F.B.I. and other federal authorities.

No charges have been filed and Chief Inspector Sullivan praised the work of the agencies involved. "Our emergency response plan worked perfectly," he said.

read article here