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Tunisian pilot who prayed while crash landing a plane gets 10 years in jail
If I were a pilot landing a plane after the engines had conked out on me, I might pray. That doesn't mean I'd take my hands off the controls and stop doing my part to aim for a safe landing, but perhaps there would be words beseeching a power bigger than myself for a dose of divine intervention. It couldn't hurt. Right?
For the Tunisian pilot I read about in the guardian.co.uk, uttering a prayer out loud got him in hot water when his case went to court. Back in 2005, he crash-landed a Franco-Italian ATR 72 charter plane into the Mediterranean off the coast of Sicily after the engine stopped working because the wrong fuel gauge had been mistakenly installed by a mechanic. The fuel gauge was too small, thus the plane didn't have enough fuel. As a piece of information to keep in mind, the smaller gauge looked the same as the larger gauge.
At the time of the crash, the pilot was considered a hero since everyone on board didn't die. Twenty-three people survived. After the investigation and trial, the tides have turned. The Italian court has decided that the pilot should have tried to glide the plane to Palermo. The court thinks that if he had done this, the 16 who died would not have. His prayers meant that he stopped doing his job correctly.
I guess these people didn't hear about the US Airways plane crash landing on the Hudson River after the pilot was told to try to make it to an airport. What's intriguing about this latest case is that the Tunisian pilot is Muslim. Calling out to Allah doesn't seem to translate all that well in Italian court.
The co-pilot, mechanic and other airline executives are also going to jail. The charges include manslaughter.
Filed under: Italy, Airlines, Transportation
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
ssoemadiredja Mar 25th 2009 9:30PM
The difference between this case and the Hudson case is that there were no casualities with the Hudson incident.
While I don't discount that as a factor, as a muslim woman who drives (my only experience is with cars though) and prays, I was under the impression one didn't have to necessarily put one's hands in the correct/traditional praying position. Why did this pilot do so, when he has experience with flying smaller aircraft and (presumably) praying (take offs, landings, etc)?
What happened the (presumably non-praying, though not necessarily non-muslim) other flight crew in the cockpit with him? What were they doing? Could they do much more?
I do understand that there is a growing islamophobia in Italy at the moment but must we directly jump to those conclusions?
Jamie Rhein Mar 26th 2009 1:15AM
He didn't put his hands in a traditional position. All he did was pray out loud.
a Mar 26th 2009 2:04AM
typical to claim that anything negative about a muslim is 'islamophobia'. stop trying to victimize yourself, and join the real world.
Sarah Mar 28th 2009 9:27PM
We're not victimizing ourselves. Reality is that there is worldwide islamophobia and unfortunately muslims are viewed as terrorists before considered anything else. A person can't say the word Allah or jihad without having someone question our use of the words. FYI: that is the "real world", I don't know what world you think we're living in.
e Mar 28th 2009 9:59PM
Jack you are 100% correct. I witnessed islam 1st hand on 9/11 doing what it's members are taught to do.peaceful religion....yeah o.k. anyone have an xtra bridge they wish to sell??
Dudley Haas (Wacko, Taxes) Mar 28th 2009 10:21PM
I believe prayer can move mountains. I visited Dave Juke in the Calorado Rockies and i saw a mountain actually move while I had my hands folded together and was saying the Our Father. I just wish I could sprout a few hairs on my bald head and get rid of the B-9 mole on my 4-head. My wife's face has such huge cracks in it that it looks like the foundation in my backyard on a hot day in August.
Dave Mar 28th 2009 11:15PM
It never said he laid out a prayer map and bowed to Mecca. Gawd woman read the freakin article.
kidz Mar 31st 2009 3:26PM
E there are bad seeds in every religion even christian or is the kkk your friends and yes people buy bridges all the time for their own property
nova Mar 26th 2009 2:51AM
the guy keeps his hands where they belong. he prays out loud. i dont know about you but im going to pray-planes going down-might not survive. hey something worked because he didnt die now did he? who knows maybe had he not, he would have panic and crashed killin everyone on board. its also ludacris to throw the whole crew in jail over this, what are they supposed to do knock the pilot out of the way and take control? then what kill everyone on that plane? its idiotic things happen in life we cant control we pray is that a crime?
CantTakeItNoMore Mar 29th 2009 12:36AM
Excuse me but ludacris is a frikkin rapper, it's not a word in the dictionary...the right word is LUDICROUS!!! Jeez, learn to spell, man...
Emland Mar 26th 2009 8:55AM
So, would he be found not guilty if he cursed a blue streak?
Seems to me the one at fault here is the mechanic.
jme Mar 29th 2009 1:20AM
..I wouldn't blame the mechanic.. maybe partially, but WHY did they manufacture the small gauge to look exactly like the large gauge? I would say... the quality assurance inspectors (if they have them), the mechanic, and the manufacturer all hold some liability.. As for the pilot... I'll bet he did ALL he could possibly do to save his life, as well as all on board.. as did the co-pilot. The airline executives??? WTH?? And manslaughter? A bit overboard I would say. I don't think anyone involved intentionally created this deadly situation. They should be grateful so many did survive. Glad to live in America, that's for sure...
Godiva Mar 26th 2009 2:06PM
There is indeed 'islamophobia' since muslims are flying airplanes into buildings, car-bombing, murdering and killing innocent civilians on a daily basis.
abdul Mar 27th 2009 12:28PM
u r right. but christian killing of millions of jews is not christophobia, it passes under the carpet of "nazi crimes".
Killer Llama Mar 28th 2009 11:24PM
abdul...are you kidding me? Yeah, Hitler called himself a Christian, and then went and organized the holocaust. ANYONE can call themselves whatever they want and then go off and do whatever they want. It's rather stupid of you to judge Christianity by the actions of certain people...judge it by the teachings and preachings themselves. No where in the Bible do I see "Thou shalt go out into all the world and kill Jews."
Shannon Mar 29th 2009 1:31AM
And yet, there wasn't Catholicphobia when the IRA (with the exception of the planes into buildings) was doing the same thing. Terrorism occurs by members of various religious backgrounds. Not all Irish Catholics were terrorist, not all Muslims are terrorist, not all Jewish are terrorist. Predjudice is alive and well apparently. May whichever god you believe in help us all!
Shannon Mar 29th 2009 1:35AM
Killer Llama--if you re-read abdul's post, he was making pretty much the same point. All Christians are not judged by the Holocaust, and all Muslims should not be judged by the terrorists.
Jennifer Hartsfield Mar 29th 2009 3:39AM
Ummm...I believe Hitler was not a Christian....in fact he thought that it was the Jews fault that Christianity came about....look it up. I do NOT agree with anything that Hitler said, he was a mad man...
Jack Mar 26th 2009 2:11PM
Islamophobia? You bet! Sign me up today as a card carrying member. When those "religious folks" stop cutting off the heads of their wives, or anyone else who may disagree with them, I may start to change my mind about them. Oh, and let's not forget strapping bombs on their kids and sending them off to 'kill one for Allah.'
Stephen Mar 26th 2009 3:19PM
"islamophobia", just because some muslims dont follow their religion to justify things they do , does not mean the majority are not good people, because i don't recall all muslims calling white chrisitans terrorists or kkk after mcviegh in oaklahoma.
and in islam its illegal to do those things by the way just like in christianity its illegal to sexually abuse your kids (and abusing while drunk is not an excuse). ps by the way in islam "Allah" means God, christians call him the "father"
get your facts right before hatin'