Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who helped thwart an apparent attempt to crash a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, had suffered a ‘skull fracture’ after his Omani co-pilot attacked him with a ‘crash axe’ inside the cockpit of the plane, which was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, sources told NDTV.
Captain Machchhar was airlifted from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi last week for advanced medical care. He was admitted to the Military Hospital, where a team of specialised doctors has been closely monitoring him. Because the bone can press on or injure the brain, so it often needs medical care or surgery, sources said, this is a serious injury.
Sources said that Machchhar suffered a ‘depressed fracture — fragment of skull’ during the attack and underwent emergency treatment in Saudi Arabia, where doctors reconstructed his skull, before he was flown to the UAE. Sources said that the pilot is “responding well” to the treatment. Authorities have also allowed Captain Machchhar’s family to meet him at the hospital, sources said, adding that his regular health updates are being communicated to them.
