Four decades after the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73, the courage of Indian flight attendant Neerja Bhanot continues to be remembered for the lives she helped save during the 1986 hostage crisis in Karachi.
Survivor Dharmendra Shah recalled Bhanot’s actions during the final moments of the ordeal, saying she was positioned near an emergency exit but chose to return inside the aircraft to help passengers who were still trapped.
“She could have easily escaped first, but she chose to push everyone else out,” Shah recalled, describing how Bhanot went back to help children before being fatally shot.
The Hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73
On September 5, 1986, Pan Am Flight 73 arrived at Karachi International Airport during its scheduled journey from Mumbai to Frankfurt and onward to New York.
The Boeing 747 was carrying 379 passengers and crew members when four armed members of the Abu Nidal Organisation seized the aircraft. The hostage situation continued for around 17 hours, ending in a violent confrontation that left at least 20 people dead and more than 100 injured.
Bhanot, the senior flight purser, was only 22 years old and was just days away from her 23rd birthday.
One of her earliest decisions during the crisis proved crucial. After recognising the hijacking, she alerted the pilots, who were able to leave the cockpit before the hijackers could take control of the aircraft.
With the pilots gone, the hijackers could not fly the aircraft away from Karachi. The plane remained on the ground while the passengers and crew faced an extended hostage situation.
Passports Hidden to Protect Passengers
The hijackers reportedly sought passports, particularly those belonging to American passengers. Bhanot and other members of the cabin crew concealed a number of passports rather than handing them over.
The US Department of Justice later recognised the actions of the Pan Am crew, noting the danger they faced while protecting passengers whose nationalities could have made them targets.
Throughout the standoff, Bhanot continued assisting passengers and helping maintain order inside the aircraft despite the presence of armed hijackers.
Final Moments of the Crisis
The situation deteriorated after the aircraft lost power, plunging the cabin into darkness. Gunfire and explosions followed as the hijackers opened fire and used grenades.
As passengers attempted to escape through the emergency exits, members of the cabin crew helped guide them to safety.
Shah later recalled that Bhanot was close to an exit and had an opportunity to leave. Instead, he said, she went back into the aircraft to help children who remained inside.
Bhanot was shot while assisting passengers. She was the only member of the 13-person crew to die in the attack.
Honours for Her Bravery
Bhanot was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award. Pakistan later honoured her with the Tamgha-e-Pakistan, while the US Department of Justice presented her with a Special Courage Award in 2006.
Her actions have since become an enduring part of the history of the Pan Am Flight 73 hijacking.
A Story Remembered Four Decades Later
The recent incident involving Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar aboard a Flydubai flight has once again brought attention to Bhanot’s story.
The circumstances of the two incidents were very different. Bhanot was a flight attendant facing an armed hostage situation, while Machchhar was a pilot dealing with an emergency inside the cockpit. The cases cannot be directly equated.
Yet both stories involve aviation professionals confronted with circumstances far beyond the normal demands of their jobs and responding under extreme pressure.
Neerja Bhanot’s story has endured for 40 years not simply because of the awards she received, but because of the decisions she made during a crisis—decisions that survivors say helped give hundreds of passengers a chance to escape.