 If the pilot does not correct the spin, the airplane will continue to lose altitude until contact with the terrain occurs.The graveyard spiral is characterized by a pilot who mistakenly believes they are in wings-level flight when the plane is in fact in a banking turn, and notices descent indicated on the plane's altimeter.The sensory disorientation of returning from a prolonged banking turn to wings-level flight can cause the pilot to re-enter the banking turn, as in the graveyard spin illusion.