Orders was a well-trained, experienced pilot who is expected to work through these kinds of distractions,' the judge said. The footage shows her clinging desperately onto Orders and the hang-glider while Orders attempts to clip her in, but she slips off and falls.ĭefence lawyer Jeff Campbell told the court last week that Orders was distracted by a number of things prior to the launch, including an argument with his assistant earlier in the day and by his new video camera, which was attached to the hang-glider.īut the judge said Orders, who was a hang-gliding instructor, was expected to be vigilant at all times. Shortly after, it becomes obvious that Godinez-Avila's harness was not hooked onto the glider, the court heard. The video starts with Orders and Godinez-Avila taking off from the mountainside. He was charged with obstruction of justice, but the charge was dropped by the Crown.ĭuring a court hearing last Friday, the Crown described the contents of the video, which was not shown. 'I don't think any father in the world - any parent - would stand for this situation.'Īfter Godinez-Avila fell from the glider, Orders landed the aircraft and swallowed a memory card containing video of the incident. 'I think it was a very light sentence,' he told reporters outside the courthouse in Chilliwack, east of Vancouver. Her father, Miguel Godinez, who was in court to watch the proceedings, said the sentence didn't go far enough. The hang-gliding adventure was meant to be a celebration of Godinez-Avila's anniversary with her boyfriend. She was working for B.C.'s Environment Ministry while studying at the University of British Columbia. Godinez-Avila was from Mexico and had lived in Canada for 10 years.

Orders failed to do all of these things.' 'There is a clearly established procedure that is to be followed in conducting a tandem hang-gliding flight. that what occurred here was merely a momentary loss of attention,' Joyce told the court. Had Orders performed those safety checks, Godinez-Avila's family would have been spared the heartbreak they now endure, said B.C. After he landed, he swallowed a memory card containing video of the incident. The court heard Orders didn't hook Godinez-Avila to the glider and also failed to conduct several tasks during a required safety check before launching.

Lenami Godinez Avila, 28, died on April 28, 2012, after she fell during a tandem flight across B.C.'s Fraser Valley. William Jon Orders, 51, received a five-month jail sentence for criminal negligence causing death. A veteran British Columbia hang-glider pilot sentenced to jail after his passenger plummeted 300 metres to her death should never have missed several fundamental steps during a pre-launch safety check, a judge said Tuesday.

Hang glider accident