Neerja Bhanot - The flight attendant sacrificed herself to save more than 300 passengers on the death flight

Neerja Bhanot - the legendary name of the Indian aviation industry. The story of a beautiful flight attendant who sacrificed herself to save more than 300 passengers on a death flight has become an unforgettable mark in the history of aviation, inspiring millions of people.

Neerja was born on September 7, 1963 in Chandigarh, a city in northern India. During her school days, Neerja was known as a beautiful girl with a calm personality and was always admired by many people. Friends commented on Neerja as a reliable person, when they were in trouble she was always ready to help. In addition, she is also very upright, honest and straightforward.

She graduated from university in Mumbai and started her modeling career through a chance meeting. At the age of 18, at a party with friends on campus, a reporter took a photo of her for a magazine cover. Since then, she became famous and regularly appeared in fashion magazines. This job gave her a stable income that did not depend on her family.

In March 1985, when she turned 21, this beautiful girl was forced to marry a businessman according to family arrangements. Unfortunately, she is often abused and beaten by her husband. She is not financially independent, and even has to ask her husband for money to make phone calls. Just a few months after the wedding, Neerja ran away to her biological parents' home.

In the end, Neerja made a brave decision at that time to divorce her husband, to get out of the prison marriage. Seeing their daughter unhappy, Neerja's parents did not forbid her, but supported her to decide on her own life.

Not long after, Pan Am Airline recruited 80 crew members for Asian flights, Neerja decided to apply for the exam to start a new life. In January 1986, she was selected from over 10,000 people to become a flight attendant. Neerja was passionate about her new job but did not expect that, after 6 months of work, tragedy struck and made her die at the age of 22.

On September 5, 1986, two days before the young girl celebrated her 23rd birthday, Flight 73 Pan Am was attacked by four armed Palestinian terrorists at Jinnah International Airport. , in the city of Karachi, Pakistan.

Terrorists disguised as security personnel broke into the plane, carrying guns, bombs, grenades to rob and direct the plane to Israel to terrorize. At that time, there were 365 passengers and 16 crew on the plane.

When she saw terrorists board the plane and grab a passenger by the hair, Neerjia realized the danger. She quickly informed the crew by radio, so that the three American pilots escaped in time, the terrorists could not force the plane to take off. If the plane takes off, the consequences will be dire.

But that also means that there are currently only flight attendants and passengers on the plane. On that fateful day, the chief flight attendant became ill, resigned, so Neerjia became the most responsible person here and had to face the terrorists directly.

The terrorists asked Neerja to collect the passports of all passengers on the flight to verify who were Americans to pressure the US authorities. Neerja immediately recognized the intentions of the terrorists, so she and the crew hid 41 passports of 41 Americans under the seat, not letting them find out. As a result, out of 41 people, only 2 people were killed.

During 17 hours of being attacked by terrorists, Neerja remained calm, providing food and drinks to passengers on board. She still smiles and encourages them to overcome their fear. Eventually the plane ran out of fuel, the cabin was dark and the terrorists started shooting aimlessly into the air.

Realizing this was an opportunity to save everyone, Neerja courageously opened an emergency exit for the passengers to get out of the plane safely. She was able to get out first from that exit, but Neerja remained on the death plane. She used her body to cover the bullets for 3 children on the flight. The 22-year-old was shot in the stomach, shoulder and arm, blood drenching her slim but resilient body. After that, the flight attendant took her last breath when she was taken to the ambulance and the three children were safe.

A total of 22 people were killed including Neerja and 359 passengers survived the attack. On that day, Neerja promised her family to return home on her birthday, but her parents never waited to see their daughter celebrate her new age. When her family learned about the terrorist incident, their first reactions were shock, anger, and disappointment. At that time, all the portals were closed, they received only sporadic information via television.

A few days later, the Neerja family received confirmation of the bad news. The flight attendant's family went to the airport to pick up their daughter's body and take her to cremation. At her funeral, they sang her favorite song together, saying, "Goodbye, dear Neerja."

Father Neerja shared that she is a very political person and ideal for justice. Indeed, she managed to fulfill her mission until the last minute of her life. In 1988, all four terrorists were arrested by the Pakistani government and sentenced to death, but later reduced to life in prison. This sparked a wave of public outrage. In 2008, all four of these men were released by the Pakistani government, the FBI immediately issued an arrest warrant for them for terrorism charges, but until now, they have not been able to arrest them.

Neerja was awarded the Ashok Chakra Heroic Medal by the Indian government - the highest-ranking medal to recognize the heroes fighting for peace in India. Neerja was the first woman to receive this medal. The United States and Pakistan also presented Neerja with other honors.

In 1987, Neerja's mother received the government's Ashok Chakra medal on her behalf. In 2004, India Post issued stamps with her image and heroic medal in memory of Neerja. Her parents spent the insurance money and the money donated by Pan Am Airline to create a charity called Neerja, which contributes to those unfortunates who have an accident or misfortune during flight and used to protect the rights of Indian women, totaling 150,000 Rupees (about 52 million VND).

According to information from One India, one of three children that the flight attendant courageously protected and saved, became the captain of a major airline. He said that Neerja became his spiritual pillar and he lives every day in memory of her.

Neerja's life was also the inspiration for her self-titled film released in 2016, starring Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor. Until now, the story of the noble sacrifice of the hostess Neerja still makes many people moved and deeply admires the slender girl but has a steel spirit who does not show any fear at all. evil.

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