graveyard spiral

Aviation slang for a situation in which a pilot unwittingly enters a gentle banking turn, ultimately ending up as a spiral dive to the floor. This typically happens to incompetent or inexperienced pilots unable to visually assess the aircraft’s position relative to the horizon. The strong impression of descent leads some pilots to disregard the flight instruments (which will show exactly what’s going on) and try to correct the situation by pulling up, which instead tightens the turn and often leads to certain death. This is extrapolated to situations where a person will stubbornly press on with something extremely stupid despite solid, objective reasons not to.

Man, I can’t believe you’re still seeing Amanda, she’s done your brother, your dad and me. Get outta your graveyard spiral and dump the bitch, I don’t want you catching my herpes.

Hey, did you hear what Bob did when he got the results of his liver function test? He was so freaked that he went straight into a graveyard spiral with a bottle of Jim Beam.

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