Gwen Shamblin Lara’s pilot husband ‘lost control’ of plane before plunge that killed ‘cult’ church leader & six others

CHRISTIAN diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara's pilot husband likely got disoriented in heavy clouds before nosediving into a lake, a new report has found.

The leader of Remnant Fellowship Church died alongside six others in a devastating private plane crash on March 29, 2021.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, Joe Lara, Gwen's actor husband known for playing the titular character in Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, was piloting the Cessna C501 when it went down.

The well-off couple had left their home in Tennessee for Palm Beach International Airport to vacation with friends.

Flight track data determined the plane entered clouds and made a "series of heading changes, along with several climbs and descents, before it entered a steep, descending left turn," the crash report states.

Lara likely experienced a type of spatial disorientation that caused him to believe the plane was going up while they actually spiraled to their unfortunate deaths, an NTSB performance study found.

The actor's flight instructor William Lardent said that he was technically qualified to fly with "instruments only" which means he did not need visual references to stay in the air but still struggled using just the tools.

According to Lardent, who had flown with him several times in the Cessna that crashed, he relied heavily on his iPad to understand his "time in space."

Lara wanted to fly into large airports in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, but the instructor determined that he wasn't ready.

Other victims of the crash were identified by Rutherford County officials as Brandon Hannah, David L. Martin, Jennifer J. Martin, Jessica Walters, and Jonathan Walters.

They were all from Brentwood, Tennessee, and were friends with Lara.

The pilot's wife was infamous for publishing a dangerously restrictive diet that she claimed would bring followers closer to God, leading some critics to dub the group as "cult-like."

Her teachings centered around the Bible and her book The Weigh Down Workshop.

In 2002, Shamblin bought 40 acres of land in Brentwood and donated the entire property for the building of the Remnant Fellowship Church. 

Since its inception, the church has grown in membership with more than 150 churches in the United States and Canada, and across several continents. 

Gwen and her husband amassed a sizeable fortune and lived a life of luxury in their 18 properties worth more than $20million.

It was reported after their death that she left nothing to the church in her will.

However, the church said she donated a generous $10million to her legacy and deemed it an "incredible gift."

Members who support the church have praised it for helping them through the "hopelessness" in their lives.

However, some former followers have spoken out against the church, with one woman saying that she's suffering irreparable damage to her kidneys thanks to the diet.

In 2021, an explosive HBO docuseries called The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin was released.

The first part of the film took a look at Shamblin Lara's ascent to fame through her diet program and the founding of her church.

Part two of the HBO docuseries explored what happened to Shamblin Lara's church after her shocking death in May 2021.

Her daughter, Elizabeth, is now leading the Remnant Fellowship Church.