KEY WEST, Fla. (Reuters) -- A Florida jury found six Cuban men guilty on Thursday of hijacking an aging DC-3 plane from Cuba to the United States, one of a rash of plane and boat hijackings from the communist island in March and April.

The Cubans, convicted of air piracy, face 20 years to life in prison for hijacking the 1940s-era Aerotaxi plane from Cuba's Isle of Youth airport in Nueva Gerona, Cuba, to Key West on the southern tip of Florida on March 19.

The flight was one of the most dramatic arrivals of would-be Cuban migrants, although there is a constant trickle of Cubans crossing the 90-mile (140-km) Florida Straits to the United States in smugglers' boats and homemade vessels.

The jury of seven women and five men -- none of whom were from south Florida's large Cuban community -- deliberated for 6-1/2 hours before reaching a verdict. Sentencing was set for Feb. 26. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said in Havana: "It was a correct decision, a positive signal and inevitable given the idea of fighting terrorism and armed airline hijackings."

The flight carried 37 people, including the six defendants and six crew members. Fourteen passengers opted to stay in the United States after the hijacking although the entire crew asked to return home to Cuba. Nobody was hurt.

One issue in the trial in federal court in Key West was how much it really was a hijacking. The prosecution said the crew was forced at knife-point to divert the plane while the defense argued that crew members went along with a staged hijacking.

The Cuban pilot and co-pilot testified that the defendants overpowered the crew, broke down the cockpit door and threatened lives using knives, rope and an airplane ax.

Defense attorneys emotionally argued that the hijacking was a flight to freedom. The defendants served snacks and drinks during the flight, they said.

Leaving the court after the verdict, the wives of some defendants wept. One relative furiously disagreed with court's ruling that Cuba's political system not be discussed in the trial. "It's the dirtiest thing I've ever seen in my life," said Angel Norneilla Morales, brother of two of the convicted men. "They closed the jury's eyes when they said they couldn't talk about Cuban politics." But lead prosecutor Harry Wallace defended the verdict, saying, "It (the flight) really did endanger everyone on that plane. But for the cool hand of the pilot, who knows what would have happened." -----Maximum Sentences of Life in Prison----

Each defendant was charged with four counts: conspiracy to commit air piracy, air piracy, conspiracy to interfere with a flight crew and interfering with a flight crew.

Three of the men were acquitted on some counts but all six were convicted of air piracy and could be sentenced to life in prison.

The defendants were Alexis Norneilla Morales, 32, a veterinarian, and his brother Miakel Guerra Morales, 26, their cousin Eduardo Javier Mejia Morales, 26, Yainer Olivares Samon, 21, Neudis Infantes Hernandez, 31, and Alvenis Arias Izquierdo, 24.

Cuba, a longtime foe of the United States, says Washington encourages illegal migrants by allowing those who make it to U.S. shores to stay.

Thursday's verdict followed that of another Cuban hijacker, who used fake grenades to hijack a passenger plane to Florida on April 1. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Cuba executed three hijackers who commandeered a Havana ferry with 50 passengers on board in April.