Video: Pilot gets 5 months in jail in hang-gliding death of Mexican woman in B.C.

The pilot accused in the hang-gliding death of a Mexican woman studying in B.C. has received five months in jail.

William Jon Orders pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death in the death of 27-year-old Lenami Godinez-Avila.

Orders also received three years probation and he can no longer engage in hang-gliding as a pilot or passenger. The judge ruled he must also do 25 hours of community service speaking about the incident and the importance of safety.

Godinez-Avila plunged 300 metres to her death after she set off with Orders on a ride in April 2012. Her boyfriend had purchased the hang-gliding ride as part of a celebration for their second-year anniversary.

Godinez-Avila was working for B.C.’s Environment Ministry while she was completing a project management certificate at UBC.

After the ruling her father said the sentence is too light and will not serve as a deterrent to other hang-gliding operators.

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 found Godinez-Avila’s harness was not connected to the glider during take-off, and Orders did not perform a pre-ride ‘hang-check’.

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.