NTSB blames pilot's spatial disorientation for crash killing diet guru and others.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on the small plane crash that killed weight-loss guru Gwen Shamblin Lara and six others in Tennessee. The report suggests that the crash was caused by pilot error, as her husband, who was piloting the plane, became disoriented in heavy clouds. The maneuvering is consistent with a type of spatial disorientation called somatogravic illusion, and it likely caused the pilot to perceive that the airplane was pitching up even though it was actually in a continuous descent. The pilot was rated to fly with instruments only, but he struggled when forced to rely on instruments in low visibility and while using the plane’s autopilot.