Plane Crash That Killed Gwen Shamblin, ‘Tarzan’ Star Joe Lara Caused By Pilot’s ‘Spatial Disorientation’

Nearly two years after Tarzan star Joe Lara and his wife Gwen Shamblin tragically died in a plane crash in Tennessee, the National Transportation Safety Board has revealed more details about the accident.

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The accident occurred on May 29, 2021. Lara and Shamblin were on board the plane with Lara’s brother Brandon Hannah and married couples Jennifer and David Martin as well as Jessica and Jonathan Walters when the plane, a 1982 Cessna 501, plummeted into Percy Priest Lake near Smyrna, Tennessee not long after takeoff from Smyrna Rutherford County Airport. The crash killed everyone, including the pilot, on board.

According to CNN, the National Transportation Safety Board’s report on the accident revealed that the pilot experienced a “spatial disorientation” (also known as somatogravic illusion) during the climb after takeoff. He then lost control of the plane causing it to crash.

The report also noted that flight tracking data revealed the aircraft had entered the clouds and made a series of heading changes as well as descends before beginning a steep, descending left turn. The movements were consistent with spatial disorientation, which is the “accelerations associated with the airplane’s increasing airspeed were likely perceived by the pilot as the airplane pitching up although it was in a continuous descent.”

Investigators also stated that with the pilot possibly thinking the plane was nose-up rather than nose-down, he was unable to recover after the plane started falling. The plane ended up hitting a shallow reservoir of the lake at a high rate of speed.

Two-Thirds of the Plane Carrying Joe Lara and Gwen Shamblin Were Recovered Following Devastating Crash

It was revealed that two-thirds of the plane carrying Joe Lara, Gwen Shamblin, and the other passengers has been recovered. Among the recovered items included both engines and the main cabin door. Other items recovered were pieces of the main cabin windows and several fractured seat frames. The report noted that there were no signs of mechanical issues with the plane.

CNN also reports that Gwen Shamblin was the founder and spiritual leader of the Remnant Fellowship Church in Brentwood, Tennessee. She was also the registered dietician that created the Weigh Down Diet. This kind of diet encourages dieters to strengthen their faith in God to lose pounds.

Joe Lara played the leading role in the TV series Tarzan: The Epic Adventures from 1996 to 1997. Lara was 58 years old at the time of the crash. He and Shamblin were married in 2018. He was the stepfather of Shamblin’s two children. The actor also shared one child from a previous relationship with Natasha Pavlovich.

The other passengers with Shamblin and Lara were leaders of the Remnant Fellowship Church. They had joined the church in the ’90s.