The survivors of the Air India crash are not just nursing broken bones. Their minds, too, are fractured. A British psychologist who has spent the past week in the wreckage’s shadow is demanding a coordinated global response to the psychological toll of such disasters.
Dr. Helen Carter of the University of Manchester says the current system is a patchwork of charity and luck. “We treat the physical injuries first.
The mental wounds are left to fester,” she told me from a makeshift clinic in Delhi. Families of the 158 dead and 16 survivors are struggling with flashbacks, guilt, and a haunting silence. One survivor, a 34-year-old engineer from Birmingham, described reliving the moment the cabin filled with smoke.
“I can’t sleep. I see their faces,” he whispered. Carter wants the International Civil Aviation Organization to adopt mandatory trauma counselling protocols.
The UK government has pledged £500,000 in aid, but Carter says it is not enough. “We need a framework, not a cheque,” she said. The crash has reignited debates about airline safety and mental health provision.
But for those still trembling in the departure lounge of life, the debate is academic. They need help now.
