A hang-gliding instructor has apologized to the family of a young woman who fell to her death in an accident in Canada admitting he 'failed in a major way.'
William 'Jon' Orders also said he was sorry for swallowing a camera memory card that contained footage of the young woman's last moments. He has appeared in a Vancouver court charged with obstructing the course of justice after he admitted swallowing the memory card of 27-year-old Lenami Godinez-Avila plummeting to her death.
Orders, 50, has vowed to give up hang gliding after saying he was 'sincerely and deeply sorry' for the death of Avila.
Orders was filming the Canadian woman from a camera attached to his helmet as she slipped from the harness on the tandem hang-glider he was piloting. She tried to hold on to Orders' legs but fell 1000 feet when his shoe came off.
He said his impulsive behavior was due to 'overwhelming stress' that included his awaiting 12-year-old daughter on the field where the tandem flight was supposed to land.
'I would like to apologise to Lenami's family, to the police and the public for my panicked action of swallowing the memory card as I did,' said Orders. 'My 12-year-old daughter was present that day and made the situation even more stressful at the time.'
Orders was arrested two days after the April 28 accident and held in custody for a week while lawyers and police waited for him to pass the memory card.
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TXT 24
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