Sunday, January 24, 2010

Imagine if This Had Happened to a Muslim Praying to Mecca

A plane from New York to Kentucky was diverted to Philadelphia after stewardesses told the pilot a passenger with a device with "wires" coming out of it, was talking loudly on the plane.
It turns out the passenger in question was a 17-year-old orthodox Jew who was using tefillin and praying loudly.
"It's something that the average person is not going to see very often, if ever," FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver said.
The teen explained the ritual after being questioned by crewmembers of the flight, which had left LaGuardia Airport around 7:30 a.m. and was operated by Chautauqua Airlines, authorities said.
Officials with the airline, however, said crewmembers "did not receive a clear response" when they talked with the teen, according to a statement issued by Republic Airways, which owns Chautauqua.
"Therefore, in the interest of everyone's safety, the crew decided to land in Philadelphia, where a more complete investigation and follow-up with authorities would be possible," the statement said.
The plane landed without incident and was met by police, bomb-sniffing dogs and officials from the FBI and Transportation Security Administration.
Authorities said the plane was searched and passengers were questioned. The teen, who is from White Plains, New York, and was traveling with his 16-year-old sister, was very cooperative, Vanore said.
"They were more alarmed than we were," Vanore said.
The flight was carrying 15 passengers and three crewmembers.

1 comment:

RZR said...

I just imagined that. Thank you for the suggestion.