Eleni Zeri went to New Zealand on holiday to celebrate graduating with a civil engineering degree.

Part of that holiday involved going tandem hang-gliding at Remarkables Knoll, near Queenstown on March 29 last year.

For the 23-year-old Greek tourist, the hang-gliding experience was short and fatal.

Her instructor, Stephen Richard Parson, one of B.C.s top hang-gliding pilots, aborted take off twice because fickle wind conditions.

On the third try, Parson and Zeri took off travelling 1.5km from the launch site soaring to a height of some 200 metres.

Somewhere up in the skies, Zeri told Parson she could not hold on.

Distracted by the winds before take-off, Parson had failed to attach Zeri properly and did not do a pre-flight safety check.

Parson, hailed for his flying savvy in B.C. and New Zealand, tried desperately to hold on to his passenger, wrapping his legs tightly around her.

But the crucial mechanism to connect the pair wasnt there.

From the time Zeri told her tandem pilot she could no longer hold on, to the moment she slipped from his grasp, less than a minute passed.

Zeri plunged about 200m to the Queenstown hillside below, her silent fall watched in horror by the friends she had made on her tour of New Zealand.

Earlier this month, just after the first anniversary of the incident, Parson, 53, plead guilty to manslaughter after a court heard how the tragedy unfolded from Zeris friends who gave tearful evidence from London and the United States via video link.

He was sentenced to 350 hours community service and ordered to pay NZ$10,000 reparation to Zeris mother, Eirini, who attended the jury trial and was the catalyst for Parson to change his plea.

Local media reported that during the court case both sides acknowledged the tragic circumstances of the incident. Mrs Zeri lost her daughter; Parson â?" deeply traumatised â?" would lose his livelihood.

In court, Parson addressed the grieving mother with tears in his eyes, saying: I need you to know I also have a hole in my heart. Eleni was very brave. Im so very, very sorry.

After the case, Mrs Zeri said little had changed since she and her husband had written their victim impact statements except that we are more aware of our tragedy and we cannot get used to Elenis absence.

Crown prosecutor Alistair Garland said Mrs Zeri and Parson had a private meeting after sentencing to share their grief.

I think that in some small way this meeting helped her come to terms with it. Particularly the acceptance of responsibility on the part of Mr Parson, and knowing thathe is genuinely remorseful.

An image on Parson's website

Defence counsel Kevin Phillips said Parson had been through a horrific experience.

Mrs Zeri very presence was one of the major factors leading to his change of plea. He wanted to ensure Mrs Zeri heard no more, Phillips said.

This man has a lifetime sentence about this matter as well as the Zeri family. Hes always going to relive those awful, tragic moments. He was there, in the air, with Miss Zeri, Phillips said.

At the time of the accident Parson was regarded as the fifth or sixth most-experienced tandem hang-gliding pilot in New Zealand, NZPA reported.

He worked for Queenstown company Sky Trek.

With more than a decade of flying experience, Parson has his own business â?" Airdreams Hang-gliding â?" in Chemainus on Vancouver Island.

Airdreams Hang Glide Vancouver Island. Come for your dream flight with Steve Parson, certified tandem instructor. Foot launch from Mt. Prevost, high above Duncan, on Vancouver Island, or from Bruce Peak, on Saltspring Island. Wheel landings let you fly worry free, before gently touching down on grassy meadows. A typical flight lasts about 10 minutes, his website reads.

Parson traveled to New Zealand to work during the Canadian off-season. Until the accident he had a blemish-free record and friends in the business "on both sides of the world" described him as methodical, cautious and safe, local media reported.

Martin Nowoselski, of the B.C. Hang-gliding and Paragliding Association is a close friend of Parson and sold him one of his first hang-gliders 11 years ago.

From the start I think he flew it better than I ever did. Steve had talent and perseverance ... a desire to be safe and one of the better pilots around, he said after the trial.

He was always questioning and looking to senior pilots for advice and guidance. He didnt take huge risks.

When Parson returned from his first season down south I was blown away by his flying savvy and business acumen. Around here a tandem pilot may do a couple dozen flights in a year. Steve did about 500 in New Zealand.

Steve is my friend. He had a malfunction that day and Eleni died. I am looking forward to the day he comes home so we can sit on our mountain and laugh and cry, said Nowoselski.

The tragic accident has also spurred the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority to overhaul rules covering commercial hang gliding and paragliding operations. Work on the new rules for commercial adventure operations, would begin in July,.according to NZPA.