Neerja Bhanot Biography 
Neerja Bhanot was a flight attendant for Pan Am airlines, based in Mumbai who become the youngest recipient of India’s highest civilian award for bravery, the Ashoka Chakra posthumously. She lost her life saving passengers of Pan Am Flight 73 from terrorists who hijacked the plane in the year 1986, aged only 22. Her death happened in Karachi, Pakistan and she was given bravery award, Ashoka Chakra (equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra) by Indian government. Bhanot was also recognised internationally as "the heroine of the hijack".
She was born in Chandigarh on 7 September 1963. Her father Harish Bhanot was a Mumbai-based journalist. She studied at Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh, Bombay Scottish School and St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. She got married just one year before her death and reached Gulf. However the marriage didn’t last too long and due to dowry problems, she returned back within 2 months. Then she applied for a flight attendant job with Pan Am for which she got selected.
When Pan Am Flight 73 was hijacked by four terrorists when it landed at Karachi, Neerja was the senior flight purser. The flight was started from Mumbai. The terrorists had weapons in hand and were the part of Abu Nidal Organization backed by Libya. They searched and killed Americans one after the other and asked Neerja to hand over the passports of all its passengers and crew, so that they could easily identify Americans. But she and her associates hid the passports of 19 Americans on board and hid them as well. When hijackers started exploding bombs after 17 hours, she played a significant role to save the life of its passengers by opening a back door, though she lost her life in this mission! She shielded three children from a series of bullets, but giving her life in return.
Published: N/A
Updated: April 16, 2014
