Neerja Bhanot
Indian flight attendant of Pan Am Flight 73 (1963–1986)
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Key Takeaways
- Neerja Bhanot (7 September 1963 – 5 September 1986) was an Indian flight attendant.
- Around 17 hours into the standoff, after she opened an emergency exit door and began helping passengers escape from the plane, Neerja was shot and killed by the hijackers.
- Posthumously, Bhanot became the first female recipient and, until 2003, the youngest recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award of India.
- Her life and humanitarian actions inspired the 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film Neerja , directed by Ram Madhvani and starring actress Sonam Kapoor.
- She was the daughter of Harish Bhanot, a Bombay-based journalist, and Rama Bhanot.
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Source summary
WikipediaNeerja Bhanot (7 September 1963 – 5 September 1986) was an Indian flight attendant. On 5 September 1986, she saved a large number of passengers on board Pan Am Flight 73, which had been hijacked by four Palestinian terrorists from the Abu Nidal Organization after it made a stopover at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan. Around 17 hours into the standoff, after she opened an emergency exit door and began helping passengers escape from the plane, Neerja was shot and killed by the hijackers. Shortly afterward, Pakistan's Special Service Group stormed the aircraft and captured all of the hijackers.
Posthumously, Bhanot became the first female recipient and, until 2003, the youngest recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award of India. She also received the Tamgha-e-Pakistan, the 4th highest civilian award of Pakistan, in addition to several accolades from the United States. Her life and humanitarian actions inspired the 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical film Neerja, directed by Ram Madhvani and starring actress Sonam Kapoor.
Neerja Bhanot was born on 7 September 1963 in Chandigarh, India into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family of the Bhanot clan. She was the daughter of Harish Bhanot, a Bombay-based journalist, and Rama Bhanot. She had two brothers, Akhil and Aneesh Bhanot. She received her early schooling at Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School in Chandigarh. When the family moved to Bombay, she continued her studies at Bombay Scottish School and then graduated from St. Xavier's College, Bombay. It was in Bombay where she was first spotted for a modeling assignment which began her modeling career. She was a huge fan of actor Rajesh Khanna and used to refer to quotes from his films throughout her life.
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