Alexa Piper

Neerja Bhanot was a 22 year old flight attendant on a hijacked plane, Pan Am Flight 73 on 5 September 1986 during a stopover The terrorists demanded her to collect the passports of all the passengers, intending to identify the Americans among them. Recognizing the danger this posed, she and her fellow attendants under her charge hid the passports of the American passengers, some under seats and others down a garbage chute, making it difficult for the hijackers to distinguish between nationalities. As the hijacking stretched on for 17 hours the terrorists eventually resorted to violence by opening fire and setting off explosives. Neerja opened one of the airplane doors, and even though she could have been the first one to escape from the aircraft, she did not do so and instead started helping the other passengers and unaccompanied children. That is when she was caught and her courage was met with extreme cruelty. She was killed. Neerja's actions saved many lives. In addition to saving the lives of many hostages, Neerja Bhanot also helped prevent the plane from getting off the ground A young child on board, who was just seven years old at the time, grew up to become a captain for a major airline. He credits Neerja as his inspiration, acknowledging that he owes every day of his life to her