Passenger Fell Nearly 1,000 Feet Due To Unsecured Safety Harness

The Canadian hang-glider pilot and instructor who was involved in a fatal accident in April, 2012 has pleaded guilty to criminal negligence in the death of Lenami Godinez-Avila, who fell from a hang-glider shortly after takeoff over Fraser Valley in British Columbia.

The pilot, William Jon Orders, had failed to properly secure his passenger into her harness, and she fell nearly 1,000 feet from the aircraft. Orders had also been charged with obstruction of justice for swallowing a camera chip that contained video files of the accident, but prosecutors said Friday that the obstruction charge will be dropped.

Canada's CTV News reports that an investigation by the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada determined that the passenger's harness was not attached to the aircraft at takeoff. It also found that Orders, 51, did not perform proper safety checks before launch. Crown lawyer Cerolyn Kramer said in court "He didn't miss just one step; he missed several" despite having gone through a tandem recertification course weeks before the accident.

During the proceedings, Orders was described as a hang glider pilot with 18 years experience who was known for being a safe pilot who suffered a "brief lapse of attention" which led to Godinez-Avila's death.

Orders apologized in court to the woman's family. A sentencing recommendation worked out between the government and defense lawyers includes five months in prison followed by three years probation in which Orders could not fly, and requires him to educate others about the accident.

FMI: www.courts.gov.bc.ca/supreme_court