The pilot accused in the hang-gliding death of a Mexican woman studying in B.C. pleaded guilty in a Chilliwack courtroom Friday.
William Jon Orders was charged with criminal negligence causing death when 27-year-old Lenami Godinez-Avila plunged 300 metres moments after taking off from a Fraser Valley mountain top in April 2012.
Orders was also charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly swallowing the memory card of his camera that may have contained video of the flight. He later apologized and said he cooperated with police to recover the memory card.
Orders originally pleaded not guilty to both crimes last April, but Friday he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal negligence causing death.
Crown and defence lawyers submitted a joint proposal for a sentence of five months, followed by a probation order of three years.
An investigation by the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada concluded that human error, not weather or faulty equipment, caused Godinez-Avila to fall to her death.
The report also noted that multiple distractions may have resulted in a breakdown of pre-launch procedures.
Bruce Busby, vice-president of the association, said the organization’s investigation came to the conclusions after examining the passenger’s and pilot’s harnesses, the glider and talking to witnesses.
“The investigation looking at the equipment determined there was no equipment failure,” he said. “The harness, the glider and the passenger harness were all in excellent condition.
“Therefore, the only way that a passenger could become separated from the glider is if she was never attached to the glider.”
The accident took place on a day that was originally planned as a celebration. Godinez-Avila’s boyfriend had purchased the hang-gliding adventure as part of a celebration of the couple’s two year anniversary.
But according to the report, the passenger’s harness was not connected to the glider during take off, and a “hang-check” was not performed, even though Orders had taken a tandem re-certification course just weeks before, the report noted.
During victim impact statements, Godinez-Avila’s parents, who flew in from Mexico, said they also blamed their daughter’s boyfriend in the death.
Speaking in court, Orders started crying and shaking while he apologized. He has set up three lectures this summer to speak to the hang-gliding community about the dangers involved in the activity.
With files from the Canadian Press
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