A French pilot has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter after fatally striking wingsuit flyer Nicholas Galy, 40, with his plane's wing while Galy was in mid-air over the French countryside in July 2018.

The Montauban criminal court ruled that the pilot, identified as Alain C, was guilty of manslaughter and flying without a valid license, reported by French outlet Le Parisien. He received a 12-month suspended sentence and a year-long flying ban. The court also fined the parachuting school, where the pilot was formerly the chief pilot, approximately $22,000, half of which was suspended.

During a hearing in September, Emmanuelle Franck, the victim's family lawyer, criticized the pilot for negligence. The court also highlighted a lack of communication between the victim and the pilot.

The incident occurred while the single-engine aircraft carried Galy, a second wingsuit flyer, and other parachutists. Galy was the last to jump before the pilot rapidly descended. The pilot and the wingsuit flyers hadn't discussed the plane's trajectory, and it collided with Galy, leading to his death. His emergency parachute deployed upon impact, as seen in footage from a camera mounted on another wingsuit flyer's helmet, which investigators used in their probe.

The pilot defended his actions, arguing that wingsuiters' straight-line trajectory during jumps made it complicated to avoid conflicts with aircraft, reported The Times of London. He expressed tragedy over the incident but believed he wasn't responsible for Galy's death.