Graveyard Spiral
Updated 2026-08-05
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
The graveyard spiral is an aircraft state in which the plane is in a descending turn while the pilot's vestibular system reports straight and level flight. When the pilot reacts to the sinking feeling by pulling the nose up, the turn tightens and the descent accelerates, and the spiral ends in the ground. The decision-making analogue is the trap where the actions that feel like correcting a problem are the actions that worsen it. The only way out is counterintuitive: trust the instruments, not the feeling, and sometimes push where the body says to pull. Qualification: the escape works only if the instruments are working and the pilot is trained to obey them.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Trap signature: recognize the pattern where harder correction makes the situation worse, not better. - Instrument override: stop trusting the felt sense and act on objective data instead. - Counterintuitive move: do the opposite of the instinct, push instead of pull, and verify on the gauges.
Anchor fast decisions
Without visual reference, the vestibular system cannot detect a gradual turn, so it reports level flight while the aircraft sinks in a tightening spiral. Pulling up increases the load and the bank, so the correction amplifies the error. The loop is positive feedback: more correction, more descent, more urge to correct, until the ground intervenes.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graveyard_spiralverified
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