This woman fought terrorists, saved 350 people, died at 22; biopic on her life won 2 National Awards

Neerja Bhanot was born on September 7, 1963, in Chandigarh, India, into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family. She was the daughter of journalist Harish Bhanot and Rama Bhanot and had two brothers, Akhil and Aneesh.

She was a devoted fan of actor Rajesh Khanna. Her father worked with The Hindustan Times for over 30 years and passed away in 2008, while her mother died in 2015.

In 1985, Neerja Bhanot applied for a flight attendant job with Pan Am, which was seeking an all-Indian cabin crew for its Frankfurt to India routes. She was selected and went to Miami, Florida, for training. 

Neerja Bhanot faced domestic abuse in her marriage. However, she chose to reject violence and separated from her husband, with her family fully supporting her decision. They refused to send her back to the abusive environment and helped Neerja set an example in the 1980s by standing up against abuse.

Neerja Bhanot, the Senior Flight Purser on Pan Am Flight 73, heroically managed a hijacking on September 5, 1986. When the plane was taken over by Palestinian terrorists, Bhanot alerted the cockpit crew, who escaped and then hid the passports of American passengers to protect them.

Despite being shot by the hijackers, she helped save over 350 lives by guiding passengers to safety and preventing the plane from taking off.

She was awarded India's Ashoka Chakra and Pakistan's Tamgha-e-Pakistan for her bravery.

Her bravery inspired the 2016 film Neerja, starring Sonam Kapoor. The film depicts the real-life hijacking attempt of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi on September 5, 1986, by the Abu Nidal Organization. It focuses on Bhanot’s bravery in alerting the pilots and helping to save 359 of the 379 passengers and crew, although she lost her life in the process.