http://www.agassizharrisonobserver.com/news/164769156.html
Adrian MacNair - 2012/08/03 18:00
Agassiz-Harrison Observer - News
Hang gliding cause of death to be held back
The investigation into a hang gliding death that occurred near Agassiz in April is almost complete but the results might not be made public for another year.
Bruce Busby, vice president of the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada [HGPAC] in Calgary, said the information will likely be held pending the outcome of a criminal trial for pilot Jon Orders.
"I don't know if it's the police or the courts but we've just been asked to wait," he said.
Lenami Godinez-Avila, 27, died when she fell from the glider shortly after taking off on a tandem flight with Orders from Mount Woodside. He was later charged with obstruction of justice for swallowing a memory card containing pictures of the flight that might offer clues as to how she fell to her death.
Busby stressed nobody from the HGPAC has seen any results from the investigation yet.
"I can only suspect they don't want to prejudice the case for Jon Orders."
Margit Nance, executive director of HGPAC in Vancouver, said even if the board received the report it wouldn't be made public.
"We would not just willy nilly release that. That would have to be determined whether that's appropriate," she said.
Nance said when the board receives the report the first person notified would likely be the lawyer for the pilot.
"We would be very careful and in fact we might very well hold the whole thing off until after the trial date as well, because for the same reason nobody wants inadvertently to affect in any way the proper carrying out of justice."
Nance said that the HGPAC has an accident reporting system in place to learn from such incidents, though this circumstance is different because of the criminal charge.
"Every accident is definitely a learning opportunity for everyone and we take that very seriously," she said.
The investigator in the accident is Martin Henry, a former president of the HGPAC, who has been working independently of the association in conjunction with the RCMP and the Coroner's Office.
Henry is considered one of the pioneers of the sport. Over the past 40 years he has developed many of the safety protocols and aviation techniques used in the sport today.
"He has flown huge distances and yet he's one of those finicky, particular pilots that always stays committed to safety," said Nance, adding he really stresses the importance of the pre-flight check.
Although Busby said he knows people are curious to learn whether it was pilot error or equipment malfunction that was responsible for Godinez-Avila's death, they'll have to wait just a bit longer.
The trial for Orders is expected to get underway April 15, 2013.
Hang gliding cause of death to be held back
The cause of death was a thousand foot freefall. She wasn't hang gliding. If she had been hang gliding - as was the plan for the day - she'd have been fine.
The investigation into a hang gliding death that occurred near Agassiz in April is almost complete but the results might not be made public for another year.
ALMOST complete? Still trying to figure out whether or not Jon had his shoes tied in compliance with HPAC regulations for tandem flights?
...HGPAC...
HPAC.
"I don't know if it's the police or the courts but we've just been asked to wait," he said.
1. YOU DON'T KNOW WHO ASKED YOU? Somebody just called you up and said, "I may or may not be from the police or courts but I'm asking you to sit on the report." And you said, "Well sure. That sounds pretty reasonable. No problem!" BULLSHIT.
2. I've been ASKING you brain dead motherfuckers to get your shit together on hook-in checks for years. So how come you don't do what *I* ask?
He was later charged with obstruction of justice for swallowing a memory card containing pictures of the flight that might offer clues as to how she fell to her death.
She fell to her death at 32 feet per second squared. I'da thunk that would've been pretty obvious from the autopsy results.
Busby stressed nobody from the HGPAC has seen any results from the investigation yet.
Not counting Martin Henry.
"I can only suspect they don't want to prejudice the case for Jon Orders."
I can only suspect they want to prejudice the case against Jon Orders and absolve themselves of their negligence in not implementing and enforcing a hook-in check regulation.
Margit Nance, executive director of HGPAC in Vancouver, said even if the board received the report it wouldn't be made public.
No shit.
"We would not just willy nilly release that. That would have to be determined whether that's appropriate," she said.
Nah. Really hard to imagine making a report about a member of the public killed by a pilot certified by and operating under the regulations of your sleazy organization being made public.
Nance said when the board receives the report the first person notified would likely be the lawyer for the pilot.
And the last person notified would likely be lawyer for the victim's family.
"We would be very careful and in fact we might very well hold the whole thing off until after the trial date as well, because for the same reason nobody wants inadvertently to affect in any way the proper carrying out of justice."
1. He's charged with obstruction of justice for swallowing a memory card AFTER everything relevant to the fatality was history.
2. Yeah, and we're not gonna be concerned about the issue of withholding the report helping setting anyone up for a rerun.
Nance said that the HGPAC has an accident reporting system in place to learn from such incidents...
You assholes couldn't learn anything from such incidents if your thick skulls were chiseled open and the information were poured in from five gallon buckets.
...though this circumstance is different because of the criminal charge.
The criminal charge has NOTHING to do with how Lenami got dropped.
"Every accident is definitely a learning opportunity for everyone and we take that very seriously," she said.
Fuck you.
The investigator in the accident is Martin Henry, a former president of the HGPAC, who has been working independently of the association in conjunction with the RCMP and the Coroner's Office.
1. Yeah, he's a former HPAC President but he's working independently of the association.
2. Like the rest of you assholes Jon NEVER did hook-in checks and he launched with an unhooked passenger and dropped her a thousand feet. Just how much work do you need to do on this one, Sherlock?
Henry is considered one of the pioneers of the sport.
By whom?
Over the past 40 years he has developed many of the safety protocols and aviation techniques used in the sport today.
1. Name ONE.
2. Quote him using "hook-in check" in a sentence.
"He has flown huge distances...
Big fucking deal.
...and yet he's one of those finicky, particular pilots that always stays committed to safety," said Nance...
Bullshit.
...adding he really stresses the importance of the pre-flight check.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13132
Unhooked Death Again - Change our Methods Now?
JBBenson - 2009/01/25 16:27:19 UTC
I get what Tad is saying, but it took some translation:
HANG CHECK is part of the preflight, to verify that all the harness lines etc. are straight.
HOOK-IN CHECK is to verify connection to the glider five seconds before takeoff.
They are separate actions, neither interchangeable nor meant to replace one another. They are not two ways to do the same thing.
EXACTLY.
Although Busby said he knows people are curious to learn whether it was pilot error or equipment malfunction that was responsible for Godinez-Avila's death, they'll have to wait just a bit longer.
I've got a hundred bucks that says it was equipment malfunction and Jon swallowed the card out of loyalty to the manufacturer. Who wants to match me?
The trial for Orders is expected to get underway April 15, 2013.
And after that has come to a conclusion and all the appeals are exhausted the report can be released so that everyone using the same defective equipment which precipitated this unforeseeable tragedy can get it replaced.
Assholes.
