A lifelike fake plastic explosive, apparently used for bomb training at Israeli airports, was accidentally left on board an El Al plane after an exercise there and made its way aboard a passenger flight to New York, officials said.

The diplomatic pouch traveled from Israel to New York — and then wound up being delivered to the Israeli Consulate on Manhattan’s East Side.

The devices were inert, police said. Israeli consulate officials apparently tried to send the pouch back to Ben Gurion Airport and it sat in a JFK airport office for several days.  When it finally was set to be returned overseas on an El Al flight, it set off alarms at JFK airport.  Port Authority and New York police were called to investigate. 

Airport officials said the mix-up appears to have been an initial mistake by a security official in Israel who left the pouch behind.

The fake devices were made of clay but were meant to look like a sophisticated plastic explosive.

(Source: NBC New York)