Stu Bykofsky: Flying on a wing and an unfamiliar prayer
JOKES FLEW FAST and low after that US Airways flight made a surprise landing in Philadelphia when a 17-year-old Jewish passenger began praying with tefillin.
JOKES FLEW FAST and low after that US Airways flight made a surprise landing in Philadelphia when a 17-year-old Jewish passenger began praying with tefillin.
Instantly, it was "Flying While Hasidic," "Next Time, Try El Al," and "Was This Landing Kosher?"
Jokes relieve stress, but the laughter masked a serious question: Was the emergency landing justified - or just paranoid - after the teenager put on tefillin and panicked the flight attendant?
Tefillin are religious articles used by very observant Jews. They consist of black cubes (about 1 inch square), containing scriptural passages, connected to leather straps. Worn during morning prayers, one cube is bound to the left arm by the straps, the other cube rests on the center of the forehead.
Here's what happened, according to the FBI, which investigated after the plane landed:
After takeoff, the 17-year-old removed the tefillin from his carry-on and started praying.
The flight attendant, unfamiliar with tefillin, "was concerned about its appearance, that it appeared there were wires wrapped around it and she notified the captain," FBI Special Agent J.J. Klaver told me.
The flight attendant tried to ask the teen what he was doing, but he seemed too deep in prayer to answer, said Klaver.
Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan, who boarded the plane with other officers with drawn guns, said it was the mistaken idea that wires were attached to the device that caused shudders.
Sullivan, who heads the Police Department's Homeland Security and Counter-Terrorism Unit, said the lanky, yarmulke-wearing suspect did not resist and did not exhibit any "combat indicators."
After being questioned by the FBI, the teen and the other 14 passengers were sent on their way, all victims of a false alarm.
This reminded me of the curious - but very different - case of the Flying Imams.
In 2006, US Airways removed six Muslim clerics from a flight because their behavior raised suspicions.
"Passengers reported the men had been praying loudly in the terminal," USA Today reported, "and cursing U.S. policies in Iraq. Once on board, the men took separate seats in the cabin's front, middle and back. Two imams asked for seat-belt extenders, which include a heavy metal buckle that could be used as a weapon, but left them on the floor. The pilot was told that three of the men had one-way tickets. A passenger who spoke Arabic said one imam expressed fundamentalist views."
In other words, the behavior of the sextet was provocative, whether intended or not.
Nevertheless, the Council on American-Islamic Relations went bonkers and made a huge stink, invoking the Unholy Trinity of discrimination, ethnic profiling and Islamophobia.
Sadly, US Airways and the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, thus rewarding the imams for their suspicious behavior.
The settlement created fears that airlines would be reluctant to act if they saw suspicious behavior for fear of being sued.
With Thursday's incident over, I asked a few Jewish organizations if they'd be calling for the flight attendant's head, or launching lawsuits to protest discrimination, ethnic profiling or anti-Semitism.
The answer was no, all around.
The American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League saw it as an opening for the airlines to learn more about different religions.
US Airways "should not be ridiculed or put on the defensive or threatened," said Ira Schwartz, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, who was a little "stunned" that the airline was not familiar with tefillin. Schwartz said he would be in touch with the airline, hoping to create "a learning experience."
Unlike Schwartz, I'd be stunned if the flight attendant had known. Laying tefillin is a minority practice within a tiny religion, and barely known outside the faith.
The emergency landing was not paranoid. It was the result of a misunderstanding, but an understandable misunderstanding as it followed a suicidal jihadist's attempt to blow up a plane with his underpants just last month.
To unfamiliar eyes, tefillin represented an apparent threat. I'm happy that the flight attendant was alert and that the captain decided to be safe rather than sorry. Next time I fly, I'll use US Airways, by way of saying thanks.
I just won't bring my tefillin.
E-mail stubyko@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5977. For recent columns: