Key Points:
40 years before captain Smit Machchhar's bravery, an indian flight attendant named Neerja Bhanot was faced with a hijacking situation.
Four hijackers disguised as security personnel hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 in 1986.
The Pan Am Flight 73 hijacking resulted in at least 21 deaths including the tragic death of Neerja Bhanot who died protecting three children.
A TRAGEDY WAS AVERTED ON September 30, 2026, after Captain Smit Machchhar, the pilot of Flydubai’s Flight FZ1073 travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was stabbed. He opened the cockpit, allowing a crew member and a passenger to enter and overpower the attacker. Quick thinking by Machchhar eventually saved the lives of 174 people onboard. His act has been praised for his courage, bravery, and fearlessness.
Smit Machchhar was wounded during the crisis and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Saudi Arabia, reported CNN.
However, his story reminds us of another aviation professional who sacrificed her life during the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in 1986. Her name was Neerja Bhanot. Four decades apart, both Bhanot’s and Machchhar’s stories have become examples of selflessness and protecting others at the cost of themselves.
The story of Neerja Bhanot is still remembered today as that of a 23-year-old flight attendant who died protecting others. She became the youngest recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award.
From living a life with humble beginnings to a heroic end, Neerja Bhanot was born in 1963 in Chandigarh, India. Her father was Harish Bhanot, a journalist, and her mother was Rama Bhanot. Neerja also had two brothers, Akhil and Anish Bhanot. Before becoming a flight attendant, Neerja had started her modelling career at a young age. She completed her schooling at Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School in Chandigarh. Later, her family moved to Mumbai, Maharashtra, where she completed her education. She graduated from Mumbai’s esteemed St. Xavier’s College.
During this time, she had just started her career as a young model at the age of 18. There are rare cases where people simply get noticed, and Neerja Bhanot was one of those people who was noticed by a photographer. In 1985, she got married, but the marriage was short-lived. Bhanot’s tale of heroism during the Pan Am Flight 73 hijacking is often considered the defining story that everyone remembers her by. Her lesser-known personal life, as per a report by The Tribune, reveals that Neerja Bhanot was a victim of domestic abuse, which led to her separation from her husband.
She never stopped pursuing modelling gigs and was also moonlighting at Pan Am Airways as a flight attendant and purser in 1985. Little did she know that just months later, her life would change completely on one working day—September 5, 1986.
Senior flight purser Neerja’s life took a turn for the worse on September 5, 1986, when she and 379 other people were travelling on Pan Am Flight 73 from Mumbai to New York via Karachi and Frankfurt. It was a regular day, with the crew and passengers aboard a Boeing 747-121. Four hijackers disguised as security personnel took control of the aircraft during its stopover in Karachi, Pakistan. The incident is still regarded as one of the most violent terrorist acts of the 1980s.
The hijackers, who were Palestinian, were linked to a militant group named the Abu Nidal Organization. When the hijackers entered the aircraft, Neerja was one of the first people in the cabin to understand the gravity of the situation. She responded quickly and alerted the crew, including the pilot, co-pilot, and engineer in the cockpit, after which they escaped. The plane remained grounded for the next 17 hours. The hijackers demanded a pilot to fly the aircraft to Cyprus and Israel to seek the release of militants from their outfit.
The hijackers also shot an American passenger to press their demand for a pilot to fly the aircraft. He was brought to the front of the aircraft, made to kneel, and then shot. The crisis escalated when the hijackers began targeting other American passengers by searching for their passports. Neerja and her crew hid the passports of the passengers in order to protect them.
During the 17 hours of the hijacking, Neerja Bhanot and her colleagues never stopped working. They distributed water and food and helped reassure the passengers. After hours of ordeal, the aircraft’s power started going out. At one point, there were no lights, and the cabin became extremely hot due to the power shortage. It was at this point that the hijackers opened fire, and Bhanot opened the emergency exit doors.
Neerja and the other flight attendants used this opportunity to help save the 360 passengers on board. People started escaping through the exits, while some crew members stayed behind to help anyone who was left behind. Neerja Bhanot was one of the crew members who assisted in the escape. She protected three children by covering them and was shot in the back by the hijackers. The gunfire by the hijackers killed many passengers. As per reports, the Pan Am Flight 73 hijacking resulted in at least 21 deaths and more than 100 injuries.
Neerja Bhanot, a flight attendant at Pan Am Airways, was one of the victims who lost her life during the attack. To this day, she is praised for her courage and resilience. She was awarded the Ashoka Chakra posthumously in 1987, followed by several other awards honouring her legacy. In 2016, her life story and bravery were brought to the big screen in the Sonam Kapoor-starrer biographical thriller Neerja.
Forty years later, the story of Neerja Bhanot has returned to the headlines after the recent Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight incident, which was averted after pilot Smit Machchhar opened the cockpit, eventually leading to the rescue of 174 passengers aboard.
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
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