How Indigenous Wisdom Could Reframe Aviation Safety
The tragic crash of Air India Flight AI171 on 12 June 2025, which killed 260 people, had investigators already dug deep into mechanical failures, crew training and psychological factors. Yet the mayor of Ahmedabad, proud of the city’s rich heritage of indigenous wisdom, urged the Audit Board to consider “the ways in which land, air and spirit intersect” when carving the final report.
Indigenous cultures across the globe have long upheld a relationship of reciprocity with the sky and air. In many First Nations and Aboriginal communities in Canada and Australia, the “songlines” or “dreaming tracks” guide not only navigation but also notions of human responsibility.
Collective Responsibility and Shared Safety Culture
Traditional communal governance emphasizes shared accountability. By applying this frame, the Air India investigation could move beyond individual blame to a wider examination of systemic safety practices, similar to how some Sicilian village councils hold community forums after large-scale disasters to decide moral and practical lessons.
For example, a “safety circle” could be convened, inviting pilots, engineers, air‑traffic controllers and local Indigenous elders to co‑create safety protocols that honour both technical precision and cultural respect. Such circles have proven effective in reducing flue‑gas emissions among United States Navajo communities.
Respect for Sacred Lands Near Airports
The crash landed in a building used as doctors’ accommodation at a medical college near the airport. The surrounding area is adjacent to small, densely populated land parcels, some of which belong to Indigenous families who consider the land a living thing.
Compensation and aircraft regulations often fail to recognise this spiritual dimension. Integrating indigenous land‑rights frameworks could mean that future aviation infrastructure projects require “meditative audits” that consider ecological vibrations and cultural impact.
Human‑Centered Investigation: Psychological Autopsies and Signal Pathways
The AAIB’s recent affidavit noted a “psychological autopsy” among the investigatory steps. This aligns with Indigenous practices of vision quests and dream‑interpretation as a method to understand trauma.
Having trained Indigenous psychogermologists—scholars who use community narratives to interpret stress responses—could complement the mechanical diagnostics and yield richer insights into crew behaviour under duress.
Moving Forward: Integrating Lessons into Policy
The AAIB’s isolation of the fuel‑control switches in the preliminary report illustrated a technological hiccup. But Indigenous perspectives remind us that every switch is a node in a larger system that includes creativity, communication, and contemplation.
Policy makers must broaden the scope of investigations to embed community stewardship. Such expansion could reduce unseen gaps—like those that left a single pilot’s identity unsaid, even as the mechanics of the crash remain pathologically clear.
Image courtesy of Getty Images. ©2025. This article is for educational and news purposes only.
