Spatial disorientation
Videos
Spatial disorientation is the inability to determine position or relative motion, commonly occurring during periods of challenging visibility, since vision is the dominant sense for orientation. The a
Equilibrium test being administered to prospective pilot, via Bárány chair
Inner ear with semicircular canals shown, likening them to the roll, pitch and yaw axis of an aircraft
On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. died when the light aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Kennedy's wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and s
Spatial disorientation
…strength of the airframe, resulting in catastrophic failure. One of the most infamous mishaps in aviation history involving the graveyard spiral is the crash involving John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1999. Once an aircraft enters conditions under which the pilot cannot see a distinct visual horizon, the drift in the inner ear continues uncorrected…
A Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga II, similar to the one involved in the accident
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, May 1999
Pilot, John Kennedy Jr, 1999
Mourners outside Kennedy's apartment house