[sangnoir]

What you describe in the second sentence - rotating around the vertical-axis - is typically termed a spin .

I think parent was saying the roll was along the planes' length rather than tail-over-nose, the latter usually result in the aircraft breaking up as the torque will be really high.

[FabHK]

Rotation around the

- longitudinal axis: roll, controlled by ailerons.

- vertical axis: yaw, controlled by rudder.

- lateral axis (through the wings): pitch, controlled by elevators.

[sangnoir]

Thanks - those are correct terms for aircraft in flight, that don't apply to out-of-control vehicles on the ground. An airplane that loses traction and rotates about it's vertical axis is spinning, not yawing.