Hid passports, took bullets: How Neerja Bhanot saved 379 Pan Am flyers

"Neerja [Bhanot] was standing right next to the exit. She could have easily escaped first, but she chose to push everyone else out. She went to save the kids who were stuck inside and got shot from behind. She slid out upside down."

That's how Dharmendra Shah, a survivor of Pan Am Flight 73, which was hijacked in Pakistan, remembered the brave flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, while recalling her heroics.

On September 5, 1986, Bhanot stood between armed hijackers and hundreds of passengers trapped inside the Pan Am aircraft in Karachi, helping keep the plane grounded, hiding passengers' passports — mainly of Americans — and finally guiding people towards emergency exits before giving her own life while protecting children.

Four decades later, another Indian aviation professional, Captain Smit Machchhar, found himself in a terrifying emergency aboard a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, fighting to regain control after he was attacked by his co-pilot who allegedly had intentions of crashing flydubai's Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which had 174 passengers, mostly Israelis. Despite being seriously wounded and bleeding on the cockpit floor, Captain Machchhar managed to release the locked cockpit door. The timely act allowed passengers and crew to rush in, overpower the co-pilot and clear the way for two other off-duty pilots aboard to take control and land the jet safely. She was posthumously honoured with gallantry awards by India, Pakistan and the US.

The circumstances of the two incidents were different, but the instinct at the centre of both stories was the same. When an aircraft became a place of terror, an Indian aviation professional remained focused on the safety of the lives they were responsible for.

Captain Machchhar's heroics have brought back the story of Neerja Bhanot. Like the Wednesday (September 30) incident involving Machchhar aboard flydubai flight, the 1986 Pan Am hijacking placed Bhanot in an extraordinary situation where decisions had to be made within seconds.

Following Machchhar's prompt move, passengers and other crew members intervened, which allowed the Boeing aircraft to be landed safely in Tabuk in western Saudi Arabia. Now we revisit the 1986 hijacking episode and how Neerja Bhanot helped save hundreds of lives. A rare photo of Neerja Bhanot from her modelling career and graduation days. (Image: India Today Archives) THE 1986 FLIGHT IN KARACHI THAT NEVER TOOK OFF

On September 5, 1986, Pan Am Flight 73 arrived at Karachi International Airport (now Jinnah International Airport) during its scheduled journey from Mumbai to Frankfurt and onwards to New York City. The Boeing 747 had 379 people on board, including passengers and crew, when four armed members of the Abu Nidal Organisation — a Palestinian terrorist group — stormed the aircraft in Karachi. What followed was a hostage crisis that lasted roughly 17 hours. At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 were injured.

Neerja Bhanot, the senior flight purser, was only 22, and just two days short of her 23rd birthday.

The first crucial decision she made was one that would shape everything that followed. She alerted the pilots about the hijacking, allowing the cockpit crew to escape before the terrorists could take control of the aircraft. With the pilots gone, the hijackers could not simply fly the aircraft out of Karachi. The plane remained on the ground.

For the passengers, however, the danger had just started.

The hijackers wanted to check passports, particularly those that could identify American passengers. Neerja Bhanot and other members of the crew hid American passports instead of handing them over. The US Department of Justice (US DOJ) later noted that the flight attendants had risked their lives by concealing the documents because the hijackers were planning to execute Americans to raise their demands.

For hours, Neerja Bhanot moved through an aircraft controlled by men carrying guns and explosives. There was no escape yet. There was no guarantee that anyone would survive. But, the 22-year-old Indian flight attendant was trying to keep frightened passengers calm. The Pan Am flight hijacked by the Palestinian terrorist group Abu Nidal Organization in Karachi, Pakistan. (Image: India Today Archives) NEERJA BHANOT COULD HAVE ESCAPED FIRST: SURVIVING PASSENGER RECOUNTS

The memories of survivors from the Pan Am hijacking throw light on Neerja Bhanot's actions, which paint a picture more vivid than any award or honour can.

Dharmendra Shah, who was then 21 and travelling on the flight, recalled how Neerja Bhanot helped passengers during the long ordeal. He remembered her persuading the hijackers to let passengers use the washroom and allowing children to drink water. He also remembered her signalling passengers to hide their American passports.

Then came the moment when the aircraft descended into chaos. As the standoff continued, the aircraft's power supply failed. Darkness and panic spread through the cabin. The hijackers opened fire and threw grenades. The flight attendants began helping passengers reach the emergency exits.

Neerja Bhanot was among them. Shah's memory of those final moments has endured for decades.

"Neerja [Bhanot] was standing right next to the exit," he recalled while speaking to Filmfare.com. She could have escaped. Instead, Shah said, she went back to help children who were still trapped inside. She was shot from behind while doing so and came out through the exit upside down.

The US DOJ later credited the Pan Am flight attendants, including Neerja Bhanot, with helping save hundreds of lives during the final assault. Neerja was the only crew member of 13 to be killed by the terrorists.

She was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award. She was the first woman to receive it and, for many years, the youngest recipient. Pakistan honoured Neerja Bhanot with Tamgha-e-Pakistan in 1987. The US DOJ also honoured her with the Special Courage Award in 2006.

So, while the heroics of Neerja Bhanot and Machchhar cannot be compared, the flydubai incident highlights how these Indian aviation professionals, confronted with something beyond the ordinary responsibilities of their jobs, showed extraordinary courage which led to the saving of hundreds of lives.

Neerja's story has survived for 40 years because it is more than the story of a hijacking in Pakistan. It is the story of what one 22-year-old chose to do when she had every reason to save herself first.- Ends(Written by Avinash Kateel)