Flydubai Incident: Flydubai flight incident: Cockpit attack left Captain Smit Machchhar with ‘depressed skull fracture’ | India News
NEW DELHI: Captain Smit Machchhar’s heroic act of saving flydubai FZ1073 has acquired another dimension with the extent of the injuries he was fighting to save the plane from its suicidal Omani co-pilot now coming out.Sources say co-pilot Hammam al-Hammami hitting him with the axe kept in the cockpit had led to a “depressed fracture fragment of skull”. An emergency surgery is learnt to have been performed in Saudi Arabia before Captain Machchhar could be flown back to the UAE for further treatment.Dr (Air Cmde) Krishan Kumar Yadav, senior clinical director and professor of neurosurgery and neuro-spine surgery at Marengo Asia Hospitals, told TOI: “A depressed skull fracture is serious. Put simply, a piece of the skull has been pressed inward toward the brain. During surgery, doctors make a careful incision, lift or remove the pressed-in fragment, and check the protective membrane around the brain for tears. They clean the area, repair any damage, and then either replace the bone or reconstruct it. It is delicate work, but it is work we are trained for, and many patients do very well afterwards.”The Indian embassy in the UAE said on X Tuesday: “Capt Smit continues to make steady progress and is regaining his health. The embassy remains in close touch with his family, doctors and local authorities, extending all possible assistance. We thank everyone for their prayers & wish him a speedy recovery.”“Recovery is not a straight line. The first days are quiet ones: rest, careful monitoring, and keeping him comfortable. Then, bit by bit, strength returns. There will be good days and slower ones. Headaches, tiredness, or trouble concentrating are common while the body heals, and they don’t mean something is wrong,” Dr Yadav said.Captain Machchhar had told Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu: “It was a normal flight, and the co-pilot wanted to pray, which a lot of locals do. While he was praying, out of respect, I just looked at the front and not at the back.” He said that about four or five minutes later, he suddenly felt a heavy blow to the back of his head, which he initially thought was an impact involving the aircraft.
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“After about four or five minutes, my first thought was damage to the aircraft and something is not right. But then the blow kept coming, one after the other. And that’s when I realised that it’s not the aircraft, it’s the other guy who was in the cockpit with me.”He tried to stop the co-pilot but was badly affected by the initial blows. “I did try to stop him, but because of his initial blows, my vision was almost like nothing. And I was completely blurred out,” the captain said. He then realised the aircraft was descending sharply.
