India’s brave flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, who won a posthumous Ashok Chakra award for showing courage in a hijack situation in, died on September 5, 1986, just two days before her birthday on September 7. So while Neerja was remembered today by actress Sonam Kapoor who will be playing the role of Neerja in a Bollywood biopic, nobody paid a tribute to the courageous young woman on her death anniversary on India’s Teachers’ Day.
It was Frank Small, a non-Indian and someone connected to the airline industry, who remembered Neerja on the day with this touching Facebook post of her story. He shared a picture and also wrote a note about how Neerja saved so many Pan Am passengers when the American pilots ran away from the hijack scene in Karachi, Pakistan. Frank said, “TODAY, IN AVIATION HISTORY, WE HONOR A HERO. A PAN AM FLIGHT ATTENDANT:
Bhanot was the senior flight purser on the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 73, which was hijacked by four heavily armed terrorists after it landed at Karachi at 5 am from Mumbai. PA 73 was en route to Frankfurt and onward to New York City. Bhanot alerted the cockpit crew about the hijack and, as the plane was on the tarmac, the three-member American cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer fled from the aircraft. Bhanot, being the most senior cabin crew member on board, took charge.
The hijackers were part of the terrorist Abu Nidal Organization and were backed by Libya. The terrorists then instructed Bhanot to collect the passports of all the passengers so that they could identify the Americans. Bhanot and the other attendants under her charge hid the passports of the 41 Americans on board – some under a seat and the rest down a rubbish chute.
After 17 hours, the hijackers opened fire and set off explosives. Bhanot opened the emergency door and helped a number of passengers escape. She could have been the first to jump out when she opened the door but she decided not and was shot while shielding three children from a hail of bullets. Bhanot was recognised internationally as “the heroine of the hijack” and is the youngest recipient of the Ashok Chakra Award, India’s most prestigious gallantry award for bravery during peace time.
07/09/15 Shweta Parande/India.com
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It was Frank Small, a non-Indian and someone connected to the airline industry, who remembered Neerja on the day with this touching Facebook post of her story. He shared a picture and also wrote a note about how Neerja saved so many Pan Am passengers when the American pilots ran away from the hijack scene in Karachi, Pakistan. Frank said, “TODAY, IN AVIATION HISTORY, WE HONOR A HERO. A PAN AM FLIGHT ATTENDANT:
Bhanot was the senior flight purser on the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 73, which was hijacked by four heavily armed terrorists after it landed at Karachi at 5 am from Mumbai. PA 73 was en route to Frankfurt and onward to New York City. Bhanot alerted the cockpit crew about the hijack and, as the plane was on the tarmac, the three-member American cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer fled from the aircraft. Bhanot, being the most senior cabin crew member on board, took charge.
The hijackers were part of the terrorist Abu Nidal Organization and were backed by Libya. The terrorists then instructed Bhanot to collect the passports of all the passengers so that they could identify the Americans. Bhanot and the other attendants under her charge hid the passports of the 41 Americans on board – some under a seat and the rest down a rubbish chute.
After 17 hours, the hijackers opened fire and set off explosives. Bhanot opened the emergency door and helped a number of passengers escape. She could have been the first to jump out when she opened the door but she decided not and was shot while shielding three children from a hail of bullets. Bhanot was recognised internationally as “the heroine of the hijack” and is the youngest recipient of the Ashok Chakra Award, India’s most prestigious gallantry award for bravery during peace time.
07/09/15 Shweta Parande/India.com
