Dr Kishore Murthy was on Pan Am Flight 73, heading to New York, to present a paper, when he witnessed the lionhearted air hostess Neerja Bhanot take a bullet while saving passengers of the hijacked flight.
He recalls:
I saw her getting shot. She was shot in the head, point blank. Sitting in the sixth row from the front, I saw her during her last moments.
Dr Murthy is a survivor of the flight that was hijacked by terrorists disguised as airport security staff when it was on its way to New York from Mumbai via Karachi on 5 September 1986.
The hijack ended only when the captives fled through the emergency exit guided by 23- year-old Neerja who was later awarded the Ashok Chakra – the highest civilian award for bravery in India.
Among the 380 passengers, 20 were killed in the attack. The Times of India spoke to two survivors from Bengaluru a day before the release of the biopic, Neerja.
Dr Murthy and his wife Dr Veena Bharathi have been in touch with the producer of Neerja, Atul Kasbekar, through the making of the movie.
Neerja was absolutely calm and efficient through the horrific episode. She was the first one to alert the captain, the co-pilot and first officers about a possible hijack and it was on her instruction that they made their way out from the cockpit, ensuring that the plane could not take off. She was a true global citizen and did not discriminate between Indians and Americans.Dr Kishore Murthy, Survivor of Pan Am Flight 73 hijack
Neerja was only two days shy of her 24th birthday when the fatal incident occurred. Her family was supposed to plan a family get-together for her birthday when instead they received her dead body a day after her birthday.
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