Jail for praying pilot

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A Tunisian pilot who prayed rather than taking emergency measures before his plane crashed, killing 16, has been jailed.

The 2005 crash at sea off Sicily left survivors swimming for their lives, some clinging to a piece of the fuselage that remained floating after the ATR turbo-prop aircraft splintered upon impact.

A fuel-gauge malfunction was partly to blame, but prosecutors also said the pilot succumbed to panic, praying out loud instead of following emergency procedures and then opting to crash-land the plane instead trying to reach a nearby airport.

He was sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Italian court, along with his co-pilot.

Another five employees of Tuninter, a subsidiary of Tunisair, were sentenced to between eight and nine years in jail by the court.

The seven accused, who were not in court, will not spend time in jail until the appeals process has been exhausted.

- Reuters