When the Cockpit Tells a Deeper Story: What the Air India Express Crash Reminds Us About Mental Wellbeing
The latest findings from the Air India Express Boeing 787 crash are deeply confronting.
Preliminary reports suggest that both fuel control switches were selected OFF. Unless the switches were physically damaged prior to the event — and so far no such damage has been found — this is a scenario that’s virtually impossible to occur by accident. It strongly points to a deliberate human action.
If that’s confirmed the conversation shifts. This is no longer about mechanical failure — it becomes a matter of state of mind.
As an airline pilot, I can tell you the cockpit isn’t just a technical space. It’s a deeply human one. Every procedure, every checklist, every decision relies on the person in the seat being in the right frame of mind. That’s why mental wellbeing isn’t just a “nice to have” — it’s absolutely critical.
And this isn’t just about aviation. Whether you’re leading a flight crew or managing a front desk team, we all share the same responsibility: to make sure our people are in the right headspace to do their jobs — and to do them safely.
That means creating space to check in.
It means listening, not just asking.
And it means making wellbeing a real part of the culture, not just a checkbox at induction.
These are the kinds of conversations I now lead in schools and workplaces through my Resilience and Wellbeing keynote. I use lived experience humour and heart to open a door that’s too often left closed — because sometimes we don’t know what someone’s carrying until we give them the chance to speak.
If this tragedy teaches us anything, let it be this:
Let’s keep taking care of each other.
