A commercial flight was diverted to Philadelphia after a Jewish passenger's tefillin were mistaken for a bomb.

A passenger on the US Air flight Thursday from New York to Louisville mistook the religious prayer article as a bomb after the Jewish passenger had taken them out to pray, according to reports.

Tefillin consist of two boxes each on a strap of leather.

The passengers and crew were taken off the plane in Philadelphia. Fire trucks and police met the plane on the runway.

The Jewish passenger, reportedly 17, was questioned and released. No one was arrested in the incident.