Flydubai cockpit attack: Incident left Capt Machchhar with 'depressed skull fracture'

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.