I would be interested to know the relationship between the vacuum pump and the altimeter. More quality journalism!!!
Just a simple error Romeo X-Ray!
'He had not been trained to fly in clouds and he might have been disorientated. We believe the vacuum pump failed at this time, the altitude indicator may not have been working and having lost instrumentation he could been disorientated and lost control of the airplane.
An easy mistake for a non pilot reporter to hear 'altitude indicator' for
attitude indicator
This case would most likely have been covered by a local agency or freelance reporter with no aviation knowledge.