Inspirational Stories of Real Life Heroes: How Brave Flight Attendants Saved Lives in Aircraft Accidents

Thanks to Fox Star Studios for reviving the story of brave Indian flight attendant Neerja Bhanot by producing a Bollywood film on how she saved the passengers from four armed terrorists on a hijacked Pan Am plane during its flight from Mumbai to New York via Karachi Airport in Pakistan on September 5, 1986. The life of 23-year old Neerja Bhanot came to an end as she was shot to death while shielding three children from a hijacker, but her unconditional dedication and selfless sacrifice became one of the inspirational stories of real life heroes. She deliberately hid the passengers’ passports to prevent the hijackers from identifying the Americans on board. Neerja Bhanot was recognized as “the heroine of the hijack” and posthumously awarded by the governments of India, the United States and Pakistan. She was the youngest recipient of the Ashok Chakra award, India’s most prestigious honor for an exemplary act of courage.

The sacrifice of Neerja Bhanot is not the sole instance of how few brave flight attendants responded to the call of duty and saved passengers during plane crashes or aircraft accidents. IndianEagle shares with you the inspirational stories of those real life heroes from the aviation history of the world.