In 1986, a 22-year-old flight attendant named Neerja Bhanot fended off a group of armed hijackers on Pan Am Flight 73 in Mumbai. When the attackers boarded the plane she quickly alerted the cockpit crew, who were able to escape through an overhead hatch. With them gone she was now the senior crew member on the plane and took charge of the situation. The hijackers were targeting Americans and killed one. When Bhanot was instructed to collect passports so that they could identity other Americans on board, she and the crew members hid them.
After 17 hours, the power began to fail and the hijackers, fearing a commando attack, began opening fire and setting off explosives. Bhanot opened one of the plane doors and could have been the first to escape but she instead started helping the passengers escape. One of the terrorists grabbed her by her hair and shot her point blank. She died while shielding three American children.
Bhanot became the youngest recipient of the Ashoka Chakra Award, India’s most prestigious gallantry award for bravery during peace time. She also received multiple awards for her courage from the United States and the Tamgha-e-Pakistan from Pakistan, an award given for showing great human kindness. She died just two days before her birthday.
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