Dubai: He walked in with his left arm in a sling, his hand wrapped in thick white bandages and a fresh scar on the side of his head. Within moments, Captain Smit Machchhar was in the arms of the UAE President. “It’s my honour, Your Highness,” the flydubai pilot said quietly as His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held him close.

Less than a month earlier, Machchhar had been fighting to stay conscious in the cockpit of flight FZ1073, bleeding from a head wound while 174 passengers and his crew depended on him. Now he stood beside those same colleagues as they received the First Class Order of Zayed II, one of the country’s highest honours.

“We are lucky to have you,” Sheikh Mohamed told him. “I’m very lucky to be a part of this,” the captain replied.

Glancing at the bandaged hand, the President asked when he would heal. “Maybe two months,” Machchhar said. Sheikh Mohamed smiled: “So I have an idea.…