Pilot at centre of deadly hang gliding incident is sorry

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The hang gliding pilot whose passenger dropped to her death near Agassiz last month says he’s sorry.

In a statement to the media, Jon Orders suggests he wanted Lenami Godinez-Avila to experience an amazing adventure and lots of smiles. Instead she plunged 300 metres from the tandem hang glider he was flying.

Orders admits he failed in a major way and now has the tragic events constantly on his mind.

He apologizes for swallowing a memory card after the flight, saying he was feeling overwhelming stress. He adds that he cannot and will not return to hang gliding.

The man was released on bail last week on the charge of obstructing justice, which police allege he did by gulping down the data disk from a video camera aboard his glider.

Meantime, an investigation by hang gliding experts in to the death of Lenami Godinez-Avila begins Tuesday.

Bruce Busby with the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada says the RCMP and the coroner are making available the glider used in the tragedy.

Martin Henry, who has thirty years experience in the sport will inspect the glider, along with the harnesses that were supposed to hold Godinez-Avila.

Busby says we should know within a week whether the death was caused by pilot error or bad equipment.

Friends of Lenami Godinez-Avila say they’ve been getting support from across the globe, since her death.

Katherine Louman-Gardiner says they’ve raised over $11,000 dollars towards a scholarship for international students at SFU, to honour the 27-year-old.

Godinez-Avila’s boyfriend purchased the gliding adventure to celebrate their two-year anniversary, which they were to enjoy on the last weekend in April over B.C.’s Fraser Valley.

Below is Orders’ full statement.

Everyday my thoughts go out to how Lenami’s family and friends must be feeling. She was very brave and I’m sure very loved by all. I want to offer my condolences and sympathy for what Lenami’s family and friends must be going through. Lenami was someone’s daughter and that I find especially difficult to deal with.

My intention was to give Lenami an amazing adventure and lots of smiles but I failed in such a major way. I want so much to relive that day and to have it turn out differently. I will be left with the events constantly going through my mind, and that I will have to endure forever. Please believe me when I say I am sincerely and deeply sorry. I fully appreciate that nothing I can say or do will ever make up for your loss.

I would like to apologize to Lenami’s family, to the police and the public for my panicked action of swallowing the memory card as I did. My 12 year old daughter was present that day and made the situation even more stressful at the time. I disclosed to the police shortly afterwards what I had done with the memory card, as a result of the overwhelming stress I was under. From that point on I offered my full cooperation in ensuring the retrieval of the card. I realize that my actions caused this matter to drag out unnecessarily for Lenami’s family and friends, and for the police and for that I am deeply regretful.

Finally, I would like to apologize to the hang gliding and para-gliding community for the negative attention I have brought upon them. My only true intention in operating my tandem hang-gliding business was to introduce new people and bring new pilots to the sport which has been my passion for nearly 20 years. I have deep regrets that I may have in fact caused the opposite effect and I am extremely disappointed by that. I have concluded that I cannot and will not return to hang gliding.

Thank you for all of your support and I wish you the best for the future.

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