Why Captain Smit Machchhar's skull fracture was so dangerous, explained

Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian-origin Flydubai pilot allegedly attacked by his co-pilot, has received the UAE's First Class Order of Zayed II. Neurosurgeons say his occipital compound depressed skull fracture, treated with a wide craniotomy, lay over the superior sagittal sinus, a major vein draining blood from the brain, where penetrating injuries carry up to 40% morbidity or mortality.