Flight diverted due to unattended camera

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BOSTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A United Airlines flight from New Jersey to Switzerland was diverted to Boston following discovery of an unattended camera aboard, officials said.

United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said there was no indication the camera found Tuesday posed a threat but that the flight attendant who found it asked that it be removed, The Boston Globe reported.

Johnson said 157 passengers and 11 crew members were on the Boeing 767.

United Airlines Flight 956 departed Newark for Geneva when it was diverted to Boston's Logan International Airport "out of an abundance of caution," the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.

A North American Aerospace Defense Command spokeswoman said two fighter jets shadowed the plane "as a prudent precaution," CNN reported.

Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio said bomb technicians examined the camera after evacuating the passengers and found it was harmless.

"The pilot and flight crew are now preparing for takeoff," Procopio said in an e-mail to the Globe about an hour after the flight was diverted to Logan.

Procopio said the camera was removed from the plane. He said the flight attendant found it in a seat pocket inside an airsickness bag.