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In the chaos and darkness, at least three doors had been opened, though it is not clear by whom. There was complete chaos at the Sahar airport when we returned. We were even scared to look at him.. Though nearly everyone was paralyzed with fear, Neerja Bhanot wasted no time in trying to diffuse the situation. An airhostess, who felt unwell, too lay down next to Trupti. Musician Nayan Pancholi recounts how he lost his eye but survived the Pan Am flight hijack in 1986. Pan Am officials said 16 survivors of the hijacking were booked on the plane that arrived in Los Angeles from New York on Monday afternoon. She went back to save the kids who were stuck inside and got shot from behind. Flight attendant Sherene Pavan, who was out of sight of the militants, heard the commotion, reached for the intercom and pressed the emergency number to the cockpit. Sunshine called Dilip over to help, and the two carried Neerja to the emergency slide. We just kept praying.. And their battle offers a fascinating glimpse at the conflicts that erupt between victims and their lawyers. The four suspectsWadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-Turki, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar-Rahayyal, and Muhammad Ahmed al-Munawarare believed to have been members of the Abu Nidal Organization, which was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State. The men entered the Boeing 747, firing shots into the air. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Sunshine remained alert. Lynne Carol Hartunian , 21, Schenectady, N.Y. (SUNY Oswego) Anthony Lacey Hawkins , 57 . Read a copy of the handbook "Coping After Terrorism: Information for Victims and Survivors of Pan Am Flight #73 Hijacking May 12-13, 2004 - A sentencing proceeding was held before Judge Sullivan, attended by more than 50 victims and family members, many of whom provided powerful and emotional statements during the two-day proceeding. I could see the terrorists walking up and down the aisle, trying to negotiate. 583 people. They had only genuine feelings for us and our country. The flight attendants were supportive, smart and composed throughout. Each is sentenced to death. Neerja's colleagues say she was still alive when she arrived at Karachi's Jinnah Hospital. The fundamental issue is whether the sisters are showing great courage in standing up to a big law firm for what should be theirs or whether they are, in essence, greedy. Had they not, the terrorists would have taken the flight somewhere and blown up the aircraft. We were put up in a hotel. The latter apparently was not hurt. 25-30 passengers were killed and a large number were injured. Her older sister is a physician with a practice in Southern California. Forty minutes into the flight, the plane had reached the coast of Scotland. Onboard: 73 passengers and eight crew members. After escaping out an emergency window, Gargi and her sister, Giatri, were badly injured when they fell from wing to ground. The couple grabbed their daughters and ran to the exit, only to find themselves on a wing, 18 feet above the ground, without an escape chute. Mrs. Georges husband was one of several survivors who were brought off a Pan American World Airways jetliner at Los Angeles International Airport in wheelchairs. At Tenerife's Los Rodeos Airport, a KLM 747 initiated takeoff without air traffic control clearance and smashed into a Pan Am 747 waiting on the runway, resulting in 583 fatalities. A sentencing date is now set for May 12, 2004. As the shooting began to die down, said George, a flight attendant called out that an emergency exit was open. When our flight landed in Karachi, the hijackers entered the aircraft wearing security guard uniforms. On September 5, 1986, Thexton boarded Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi. January 2008 - Pakistan reportedly released from jail the remaining four hijackers who had been convicted in 1988. Like I say, there are many shades of gray here. Around four hours into the siege, the hijackers began trying to identify the Americans on board. A form was provided for victims to let the prosecution team know if they are interested in attending and/or speaking at the sentencing proceeding. We don't support landscape mode. LUKER, Marilyn. Saturday marked 40 years since Pan Am 759 crashed into a Kenner neighborhood, killing all 146 people on board and eight people on the ground.The only survivor on the ground was 16 . After being rushed to the hospital by two Pakistani men at the airport, Gargi Dav slipped into a coma. For her part, Gargi firmly rejects the notion that she is trying to put herself ahead of any other victim. At the sentencing in the spring of 2004, the judge will consider victim impact evidence from those who survived Pan Am 73 as well as from family members or friends of those who were killed. Read about our approach to external linking. After the terrorists opened fire, I lay down flat fearing I could get killed any moment. The powerful emotions that stick in Gargi Davs heart and mind from the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 nearly a quarter-century ago mix the horrific with the unexpectedly kind, the blessing of survival with the resolve not to be victimized again. When Gala was wheeled off the plane in Los Angeles, clutching her X-rays, her blue polyester slacks and a purple sweater showed the dirt and oil marks of her leap. Safarini, mid-joke, caught her and immediately pointed the gun at her head. More than three decades after a bomb pierced the evening sky over Lockerbie, Scotland, the Syracuse University community carries on a tradition to honor the 35 study-abroad students killed on Pan Am Flight 103. March 31, 2003 - Defense counsel filed reply briefs concerning motions filed on Feb 10, 2003. Eventually, she moved back to New Orleans and married Joe Ferrara, whom she called the boy next door in the Times-Picayune story. December 30, 2002 - Attorneys for defendant Safarini file a reply brief in support of their motion seeking to bar the death penalty against the defendant. Shama, another friend, had two bullet injuries in her head.. We saw another lady, Utpala Desai, coming out seriously injured. I was from a business family, married into another business family but I chose to start an NGO, providing education for the underprivileged after going through this tragedy. We had to wait on the tarmac for 45 minutes for a transport vehicle to carry my mothers coffin. My friend was drenched in blood. While they relayed the events to a private FBI meeting a week after the hijack, and to a parole hearing for the lead hijacker in 2005, this is the first time they have shared details with the media. She informed the pilots about the hijack and thats how the pilots could escape. Now, a tangle of lawsuits over $150 million in compensation from Libya is pitting them against one another. They turned and ran back through the plane--and some gunfire--to the other wing, where they were able to slide to safety. At the end of the proceeding, Judge Sullivan took the matter under advisement and will issue a written decision at a later date. Having failed to find an American, the militants settled for someone British. Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the FBI or submit a tip at https://tips.fbi.gov. August 29, 1991 - A 126-count indictment is returned under seal (i.e., in secret) by a grand jury in the District of Columbia. I cant imagine what the babys mother must have gone through then.When people began escaping, the terrorists, who initially walked in wearing airport security uniforms, changed their clothes and tried to escape with the rest of us. Also, a sentencing date will be scheduled (probably for some time in the spring of 2004). Today, shes taken a leave from her San Diego-based firm to help with the Flight 73 litigation. Spring 2000 - Officials in Pakistan begin making public statements that the jail terms of the hijackers will soon expire. She was allowed to lie down. PAN AM Flight 73 - Another Perspectiveby: Purnima Subhash Hardikar Just 61 people survived, all from the Pan Am jumbo jet. The Joint Prosecuting Agreement has language that may protect the law firm and cut against the Dav sisters. Dilip Bidichandani, another steward, is adamant that the pilots' escape actually saved more lives. Otherwise wed have panicked. Eventually the militants threatened that, as a pilot had not materialised, a passenger would be shot every 15 minutes. Pan Am Flight 73 had just touched down in Karachi after departing from Mumbai, India, and was en route to Germany and then New York when the Palestinian gunmen commandeered it around 6:00 a.m. that fateful September day. September 28, 2001 - Zaid Hassan Abd Latif Safarini, one of the men convicted in Pakistan for his role in the hijacking of Pan Am flight 73, is captured by the FBI shortly after he was released from jail by Pakistan. Clipper 1736 Pan Am 1736 carries 378 passengers, 16 crew, and two Pan Am employees, who boarded in Tenerife and are sitting in the cockpit jumpseats. Most . In the past several weeks, the Indian and Indian-American victims of the Pan Am 73 flight have renewed their efforts in both Washington and New Delhi, pushing the two governments to get them the . The attack, which occurred aboard Pan Am Flight 73 during an airport stopover in Karachi, resulted in the deaths of 20 passengers and crew. "Neerja was an excellent airhostess. At the end of the proceeding, Judge Sullivan took the matter under advisement and will issue a written decision at a later date. Neerja had been shot in her hip and was bleeding heavily, but was conscious. The FBI is hoping to generate new leads with the release of new age-progressed images of four alleged hijackers involved in a 1986 attack in Pakistan that killed two Americans. Their guns were on silent, so we didnt realise he was killed and thrown out. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. 2 and Beyond, FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Shocking Death of Princess Diana, 25 Years Ago Today. The FBIs Hazardous Devices School at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama is the only facility in the country that trains and certifies the nations public safety bomb technicians. TANEMURA, Aya, Kelowna, Bristish Columbia, ?? The other four defendants convicted in connection with the hijacking remain in jail in Pakistan. Nupoor and Madhvi slipped off the edge of the wing, fracturing bones as they hit the tarmac around 20 feet (6 metres) below. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. T. M. George, 45, an auto parts store manager, was wounded in the back when he tried to shield his family from gunfire. I wanted to give the pilots time to escape in case they were still in the process of climbing down the ropes outside the plane. Those who were sitting straight got shot in the legs while others who had ducked got shot in the heads as their guns were pointed downwards. She informed the pilots about the hijack and thats how the pilots could escape. Other terrified passengers had jumped down on top of her at Karachi, she explained. Over a long time, it looked like the Dav sisters and the rest of the passengers on the Pan Am flight would never see a penny in compensation for their suffering. October 1, 2001 - Defendant Safarini is brought before a federal judge in Anchorage, Alaska, where he is ordered to be held and transported to the District of Columbia to face the charges pending against him. "Survivors [of such atrocities] are living each day with the memories," says Madhvi. The motion will be argued on July 21, 2003. This action was undertaken in coordination with a joint announcement with the U.S. Department of State that the Rewards for Justice Program is offering a reward of up to $5 million each for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of the four individuals Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-Turki , Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar-Rahayyal, and Muhammad Ahmed al-Munawar all believed to have been members of the Abu Nidal terrorist organization. As the movie Neerja is releasing today, I thought it would be great to bring this story to all of you. A 16-hour standoff at Jinnah International Airport in Karchi ended with 22 hostages dead and some 150 injured. He said images of the suspects obtained by the FBI in the year 2000 were age-progressed by the FBI Laboratory. She died heroically, saving Pan Am passengers from terrorists on Sept. 5, 1986. Documents on this page are presented in Portable Document Format (PDF) and a PDF reader is required for viewing. (Neerja Bhanot's pictures courtesy: Aneesh Bhanot). September 5, 1986 - Hijacking of Pan Am flight #73 in Karachi, Pakistan. The adrenaline was doing its work until I realised I had a major injury. View a copy of the Court's legal opinion on the availability of the death penalty in this case. On Pan Am 1736, seven of the 16-member flight crew, along with two company employees and 61 passengers, survived, although nine later died of their injuries. When no pilot materialised within the hour, Mr Kumar was shot and kicked out of the plane. Interim status hearing dates were set for February 18, 2004, and April 14, 2004. I knew if I didnt speak up for myself, this would haunt me for the rest of my life.. As evening set in, the on-board power supply started to dwindle, the lights got dimmer and the cool air stopped circulating. When the day ended, almost everyone survived the hijack, thanks to Neerja's quick-thinking . Become a Member. The hijacking of Flight 73 was a botched precursor to 9/11. Outside on the tarmac, Pan Am's Karachi director Viraf Doroga used a megaphone to begin negotiations with the hijackers. Age: 50Profession: BusinessmanI was 21 then. Joe Biden's Sister Valerie Opens Up: 'We Bleed Like Every Family in America', Pregnant Woman, 25, and Man Who Recently Celebrated His 20th Wedding Anniversary Killed in Mo. Nevertheless, Crowell & Mooring has insisted that the sharing provision applies. They gave us strength. They threw the hand grenades too, one of which fell on my friend Rupal, sitting next to me. Khanjan Dalal, who survived the hijack of Pan Am Flight 73 in September 1986, has lauded Sonam Kapoor starrer "Neerja" a biopic on Neerja Bhanot, the flight bursar who lost her life while saving others on the hijacked flight. Nupoor tried to comfort the passengers around her while her colleague Dilip Bidichandani took round sandwiches and Neerja distributed water.