More than two million subscribers are standing by for an online video, expected next year, in which veteran airline pilot Petter Hörnfeldt will explain what might be the most perplexing aviation disaster of 2025. Many trust he will diligently examine, if not fully solve, the case of an Air India Dreamliner crash on June 12.

Fans worldwide regard Hörnfeldt as an aviation analyst who can anticipate and answer the questions they’ll pose passionately when the crash-investigation authorities release their “final report.”

He is neither a self-help expert nor a spiritual guru, but the audience finds encouragement in his disciplined style of learning and informing. The approach—let’s call it “mindfulness”—is seldom seen these days, especially in media.

Many journalists will give the crash story short shrift because it will be “old news” by 2026. Moreover, it’s unrelated to America, and only the emotional angle is needed for clickbait. Information gaps like this are everywhere.

Like any good pilot, Hörnfeldt wants to rise above chaos and ignorance by maximizing watchfulness and critical thought. He pierces clouds of confusion by tapping into proven procedures, formal authorities, and time-tested experience. He’ll describe the big picture without cynicism or indifference, and he’ll go beyond official data to consider mysteries that always seem to linger.

The India event he’ll continue to monitor and ponder transpired like this: On a clear spring day, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner took off from Ahmedabad International Airport, bound for London Gatwick Airport. It lost altitude almost immediately and struck a medical school complex about two miles from the runway, killing 279 people.

Hörnfeldt already explored this in a live-streamed episode of his “Mentour Pilot” podcast on July 11, hours after the investigative team released its “interim report.” He read and digested the document, but he, his co-host, and his viewers saw how confounding the tale remained.

The preliminary probe found that the fuel switches for both engines were moved to the “cutoff” position moments after takeoff, stopping the flow of fuel. As reported by Bloomberg News and drawn from the plane’s cockpit recording, the pilot and co-pilot exchanged remarks, each denying responsibility for turning the power off. Not only was such a move taboo and illogical, but those switches are designed to guard against accidental disengagement.

Ten seconds later, data showed, the switches were turned back on to restart the engines. But the plane was traveling “too low and slow” to regain thrust that could avoid the crash, according to the investigators and the Bloomberg coverage linked at the Mentour Pilot site.

Hörnfeldt appropriately told his audience that we can’t make firm decisions about the cause of the crash until the final report, which might take many months. There was good news, though: All signs suggested the plane had performed normally; the authorities saw no need for what would have been “job one”—quick remedial work on Dreamliner fleets around the world.

But what of the human factor? The podcaster, still intensely curious, went through a few scenarios. Had a third person entered the cabin and changed the settings? Unlikely—the document reported no intruders. Did one of the pilots deliberately cut off the engines, dooming the flight? Alternatively, he quipped, “it could have been the brain fart of the century.”

This was one of the most compelling stories covered by “Mentour Pilot” so far in 2025, perhaps since the podcast started ten years ago. But the host has based his reputation on avidly digging into the background of every case study, with endings happy or tragic.

He collects insights from existing rules and probes, honoring the professional ethos to do an important job well. He lets this first step free up, not preclude, further open-minded inquiries into circumstances and individual roles.

In a separate biographical video, Hörnfeldt has saluted “millions of unsung heroes” around the world who make aviation not only a safe mode of travel, but “the foundation for a better connected and united world.” His caring spirit of inquiry is a gift to them. According to  Hörnfeldt , many viewers say his assessments of dangers make them feel safer because he shows the zeal to learn from mistakes.

This mentor pilot, a native of Sweden, regularly recounts contemporary aviation dramas with a vibe of “true crime” detective work. His impartiality and mastery of technical standards surely resonate with the many pilots who watch.

But people who fly only as passengers also hit his “subscribe” button, partly because “Mentour Pilot” evinces a secular faith in solid reasoning and hope for personal excellence. Indeed, each video imparts wisdom applicable to life in general, much like a parable.

He does not pontificate or mention transcendent values, but he implicitly provides old-school cultural advice. We might joke that his theme song could be the wartime (1943) Nat King Cole ditty that instructs, “Straighten Up and Fly Right.”

His lessons include the need for common sense; the benefits of rigor, prudence, and merit; and an instinct for right relationship among all stakeholders.

Hörnfeldt’s parables, or didactic adventures, preach good intentions toward his aviation industry colleagues and those whom they serve. He regards their personal identities as shaped not by private whim, but in light of hierarchies of authority and a whole web of people whose trust must be earned.

In one episode’s autopsy of a different crash, Hörnfeldt cited documents saying the pilots should have aborted a risky landing and “gone around.” As context, he mentioned that the Federal Aviation Administration warns against “five hazardous attitudes” which can cloud a captain’s decision-making

Those five missteps in risk management are:

• An anti-authority attitude, disregarding regulations and believing that rules don’t apply to them.
• Impulsivity, acting without thinking through the consequences or making hasty decisions under pressure.
• A sense of invulnerability, feeling that “accidents don’t happen to me,” underestimating risks.
• Machismo, taking unnecessary risks to prove capability and seeking to demonstrate skill or bravery, leading to dangers.
• Resignation, feeling powerless to change outcomes and opting for inaction.

This wisdom deserves its own self-help book because it speaks to plenty of folks other than pilots. It teaches us that we all must confront our flawed human nature to make life less chaotic. A spiritual guru might say the FAA has produced a list of obstacles to humility, thoughtfulness, and prayer.

Our culture of relativism, to the degree it isolates people from each other and encourages us to use emotions as our guide, has driven us away from structured prayer, as well as accountability. Connection with a higher power (which a pilot arguably could embrace!) is said to disempower us. Secular pundits say religion distracts us from practicality and ignores the core of modern society—an ideological dogfight between victims and victimizers.

Father Dave Pavonka, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville, commented recently in The Washington Examiner about the direct attack on prayer witnessed in a Minneapolis Catholic church shooting. It killed two children and injured seventeen others on Aug. 27.

“In the face of this enormous evil,” the Franciscan priest wrote, “how can we who are Christian not cling in prayer to Jesus?” Nevertheless, naysayers scorn those who announce their “thoughts and prayers” for the children, their parents, and others who suffer.

Pavonka noted the mockery in such remarks as “prayer is not freaking enough!” or “prayer is a cop-out.” He insisted, “We can’t stop praying,” especially in the darkness of tragedy and persecution. Prayer brings hope, without which “we fall into despair.”

“Hope is not naïve,” he continued, because it is rooted in a loving, healing God who “knows what it is to suffer” and “gives us right guidance to act.” Yes, we must address the complex politics, policy, and psychology of a suicide-shooting at a church, but “something deeper and more insidious is at work”—namely, “evil.”

“We enlightened moderns prefer to ignore the reality of evil” or deal with it in the abstract, Pavonka acknowledged. However, evil is real and is “at war with the things of God.”

The Evil One wants us to try to outlaw the chaos with “the stroke of a pen,” he said. Because we must not rush to judgment, “we pray men and women have Godly wisdom, strength, and courage to do what is right, regardless of political outcome.”

Condemnation of spiritual responses to tragedies like the Minneapolis shooting can become a tactic to distract media audiences away from responsibilities which were shirked, or to persuade people toward ideological and political talking points.

Ironically, those who mock “thoughts and prayers” are criticizing perhaps the most potent gifts people can give in today’s “attention economy.” Our marketplace of ideas thrives on the firehose of news, entertainment, laziness, and frenzy which addicts us to our screens and nurtures self-obsession.

Mockery attempts to triumph in the attention economy through oversimplified outrage. Meanwhile, thought and prayer—which go together much more than many people realize—reflect a quieter dedication to mindfulness, fueled by compassion.

Such dedication drives us to higher cognition. We ponder tackling evil’s root causes and upping our game as human beings.

Public intellectual Jordan Peterson suggests, in his spiritual but secular way, that we should confront a problem by asking a heartfelt question. This establishes a purpose, identifies a transcendent good, and starts the process of prayers (or needs) being answered.

“Your imagination and cognitive systems organize themselves” to achieve your goal, the clinical psychologist says. Solutions won’t work without an infrastructure of accountability. Peterson urges us to maintain our faith in our own goodness and the patterns of goodness in moral order.

“Pursue what is meaningful, not expedient,” he says. Seek to tell a coherent story that people can agree upon because “a culture is literally a shared story.” Sadly, mockery pressures us to guide our lives only by “local truths” which neither expand nor explain culture.

After the shocking death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, many official and bipartisan voices of heartbreak reaffirmed that words—Kirks’ words and others’—can connect us to reality, widely and deeply. Millions reached out to God and each other.

As with Hörnfeldt, for whom professional protocols and probes energize his wondering, widening mind, Kirk’s patterns of reason and abiding faith nurtured his inner political philosopher. His north star freed this entrepreneur to invite friendly, rigorous debates, He formed authentic relationships and inspired countless young adults.

Kirk’s legacy in American conservatism seems poised to grow, spreading philosophical insights along with political clout. His “Turning Point” movement has a robust spirit that deserves a role in the public square.

May the “Godly wisdom, strength, and courage” of which Father Pavonka wrote lead to constructive dialogue and reveal shared responsibility for our important journeys. Those virtues must enlighten the stories of people across the political spectrum following Kirk’s death; we all need to reflect on core values and build cross-generational consensus.

Scriptures highlight the sheer power of “praying without ceasing.” Looking to God will bear fruit in our communications with each other. Those vertical and horizontal outreaches ideally mix patience with determination, humility with decision-making, and creativity with grounded wisdom.

Hörnfeldt is unlikely to use the word “grounded” in a podcast-parable context, but his fans seem attracted to the content and context he communicates. In his case studies, he knows what processes to follow, how to follow-up, and why.

Institutions, such as the aviation agencies on the team studying the Air India crash, are a crucial embodiment of combined talents leading to reasonable, incremental change.

These institutions also include religions, which point us higher toward providential assistance. Americans are losing confidence in institutions, and this may be fueling a loss of trust in, or an enmity toward, systems of interactive loyalties. Some of those who attack “thoughts and prayers” may fear that even a hint of hierarchy will impose unwanted responsibilities. Such loners are unlikely to offer or receive mentorship.

Our Judeo-Christian culture cultivates rights and duties as shared paths toward freedom, truth, and dignity for the greater good.

Those who examine society’s perplexing problems without regard to political power games, like aviator Hörnfeldt, make peace with the fact that neither individuals nor institutions can guarantee easy, perfect answers. That merely redoubles their efforts to practice wisdom and critical thinking with every willing partner. Indeed, these problem-solvers are natural mentor pilots. They encourage people in all fields to keep chaos at bay.

Charlie Kirk’s fans, young and old, have been mentored with an energy for exchanging ideas openly, with the goal of progress and peace. His best mentees, avoiding errors and extremes, can inspire us to avoid the disengagement of faith from reason.

They may speak in secular or political terms, but let’s assume that they, like those who disagree with them, dream of a “better connected” country always on the rebound. We all can benefit from words and actions, inquiries and ideals, which are proposed, rather than imposed.

Humanity needs to keep seeking new turning points, to resist despair by rehearsing the best that is in us. We’re always waiting for “final reports” about  goals achieved and mysteries clarified. But the joint problem-solving that builds a more orderly world works best as an adventure in the “interim”—the long-range interim that requires patience but leaves us time for new questions, answers, and hope.

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