After the recent death of a woman in a tandem hang-gliding accident in B.C., some pilots in the industry are calling for tougher rules to prevent a repeat.
Lenami Godinez-Avila plunged to her death near Chilliwack on April 28 after she somehow became detached from the glider as her boyfriend watched from the ground. The glider's pilot, William (Jon) Orders, is charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly swallowing a camera memory card that may contain evidence of what went wrong.
The Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada has suspended Orders' instructor certification and appointed an investigator to help determine whether pilot error or equipment failure was responsible.
"In order to make the industry safe, we make sure that the instructors that are teaching and the pilots that are teaching are up to snuff and performing correctly," association vice-president Bruce Busby told CTV News.
A similar accident in 2003 claimed the life of Eleni Zeri in New Zealand, and pilot Steve Parsons was convicted of manslaughter. Parsons later moved to Vancouver Island and worked as a tandem instructor until the association pulled his certification.
"We found that he was operating outside of what our considered acceptable practices are, so we expelled him from the organization," Busby said.
Some pilots believe tandem hang gliders need tougher rules to protect their clients.
"These members of the public, they're trusting a second person with their life, essentially. Tandem pilots have to be held to a much higher standard of safety than solo pilots," pilot Nicole McLearn said.
Hang glider Alex Raymont agrees.
"You do feel like the public is really the people that need to be protected the most," he said.
The investigations into Godinez-Avila's death could take several months.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Julia Foy
