15 Facts About Neerja Bhanot

Around 17 hours into the standoff, after she opened an emergency exit door and began helping passengers escape from the plane, Neerja was shot and killed by the hijackers.

Posthumously, Neerja Bhanot became the first female recipient and, until 2003, the youngest recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award of India.

Neerja Bhanot received the Tamgha-e-Pakistan, the 4th highest civilian award of Pakistan, in addition to several accolades from the United States.

Neerja Bhanot was born on 7 September 1963 in Chandigarh, India into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family of the Bhanot clan.

Neerja Bhanot was the daughter of Harish Bhanot, a Bombay-based journalist, and Rama Bhanot.

Neerja Bhanot received her early schooling at Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School in Chandigarh.

Neerja Bhanot was a huge fan of actor Rajesh Khanna and used to refer to quotes from his films throughout her life.

Neerja Bhanot's mother died on 5 December 2015 at the age of 86.

Neerja Bhanot applied for a flight attendant job with Pan Am, when in 1985 it decided to have an all Indian cabin crew for its Frankfurt to India routes.

Neerja Bhanot was able to alert the cockpit crew as soon as the hijackers boarded the plane, and as the plane was on the apron, the three-member cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot, and the flight engineer fled from the aircraft through an overhead hatch in the cockpit.

The terrorists then instructed Neerja Bhanot to collect the passports of all the passengers so that they could identify the other Americans on board.

Neerja Bhanot opened one of the airplane doors, and even though she could have been the first one to jump out and flee from the aircraft, she did not do so and instead started helping the other passengers escape.

Neerja Bhanot was recognized internationally as "the heroine of the hijacking" and became the youngest recipient of the Ashoka Chakra Award, India's most prestigious gallantry award for bravery during peacetime.

Neerja Bhanot posthumously received multiple awards for her courage from the Government of United States, and the Tamgha-e-Pakistan from Pakistan, an award given for showing great human kindness.

Neerja Bhanot was the youngest recipient at the time and the first female recipient of this award.