Neerja Bhanot
Posted on 03/02/2016 12:01:57 PM PST by naturalman1975
On September 5, 1986, Neerja was just two days away from her 23rd birthday. She was working her first flight as head purser on Pan Am Flight 73 when it was hijacked on the ground in Pakistan by four armed men.
It was thanks to Neerja's lightning-quick thinking that the cockpit was warned and the pilots were able to escape — as is protocol — leaving the hijackers with no way to fly the plane.
She also hid the passports of 41 American passengers so that the hijackers could not target them as intended; hiding some under seats and throwing others down a rubbish chute.
That's because minutes after they stormed the plane, they had shot an American citizen and threw his body onto the tarmac and then asked for more Americans.
.....
To give you a further idea of her clever actions, she had even secretly hidden instructions inside pages of a magazine for a passenger who was next to an emergency exit and helped him open it amid gunfire.
Instead of escaping, she stayed back and helped passengers out of the exit. "Get out", she said. "Run".
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
This article is in the press because there's a movie about her. I'm posting it because she should always be remembered.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Amazing woman. Thanks for posting this!
Outstanding story. Men certainly have no monopoly on courage.
These were Palestinian Muslim terrorists from Abu Nidal.
Sounds like a great movie to look forward to. Blessings on this lovely, courageous lady.
What is the name of the film ???
I wonder if the film (”Neerja”) will ever be shown here?
Neerja
Awesome
Neerja Bhanot
The hijackers were Palestinians from the Abu Nidal Organisation.[6]
In 2001, Zayd Hassan Abd Al-Latif Masud Al Safarini, one of the hijackers who shot the passengers, was captured by the FBI in Bangkok. He is currently serving a 160-year prison term in Colorado.
Four others escaped from Adyala Jail in January 2008 when it was attacked by terrorists. The FBI announced a $5 million bounty on their heads. In January 2010, Pakistani intelligence officials announced that a drone attack in the North Waziristan tribal region had killed one of the released hijackers, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim. His death was never confirmed and he remains on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list.
Bhanot applied for a flight attendant job with Pan Am, when it decided to have an all Indian crew for its Asian clients, and upon selection, went to Miami for training as a flight attendant but returned as purser.[1][5]
Bhanot was the senior flight purser on Pan Am Flight 73 flying from Mumbai to USA, which was hijacked by four armed men on 5 September 1986 at Karachi airport in Pakistan. The aircraft was carrying 361 passengers and 19 crew members.
The terrorists wanted to fly to Cyprus and wanted to release some of their members from jail. After the terrorists boarded the plane, Bhanot alerted the cockpit crew.
As the plane was on the tarmac, the three-member American cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer evacuated the aircraft through an overhead hatch in the cockpit per their training so that the aircraft could not be forcibly flown.
Bhanot, being the most senior cabin crew member remaining aboard, took charge.[6][7][5]
The hijackers, Palestinians, were part of the terrorist Abu Nidal Organization. The terrorists then instructed Bhanot to collect the passports of all the passengers so that they could identify the Americans. The terrorists wanted to put pressure on America by identifying and threatening the Americans on the aircraft.
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 so that the hijackers could not differentiate between American and Non-American citizens.[6][5]
After 17 hours, the hijackers opened fire and set off explosives.
Bhanot opened one of the doors, flung open an emergency chute, and assisted passengers from the aircraft. She could have been the first to jump out when she opened the door but she decided not to and was shot while shielding three children from a hail of bullets.
From a total of 41 American passengers, only 2 were killed during firing. One of the children, then aged 7, is now a captain for a major airline and has stated that Bhanot has been his inspiration and he owes every day of his life to her. Bhanot was recognized 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.[6][7][5]
This incident happened just two days before her twenty-third birthday. She had actually invited her family to meet for her 23rd birthday.
Not only had she ensured the failure of the hijacking by preventing the plane from getting off the ground, but also saved the lives of hostages in those long hours of incarceration. Bhanot also posthumously received multiple awards for her courage from the United States government.[6][8]
bmp
The name is “Neerja,” and I just found out that it’s being shown at a theater in Jacksonville (I live in St Augustine) so I’m going tonight!
inspiring.
Thanks naturalman1975. We should build a memorial for this heroine.
"She was obviously
a blatant Islamophobe!
Death to America!"
Tell us about it once you see it.
Thanks.
Thank you for sharing. No greater love, indeed.
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