Towards the end, they were frustrated because they were looking for pilots and there were none.After a point when it was dark, this leader, I remember him being addressed as Mustafa, said his prayers in a high pitch. But a New York law firm is trying to wrest 90 percent of the settlement away from Dave and nine other survivors. Thirty-two years later, Trahan, now 33, is a wife and mother who has learned to cope with unbelievable loss. Twenty people killed, more than 100 injured. November 12, 2003 - A status conference was held before Judge Sullivan at which the parties announced that a plea agreement has been reached in the case. When our flight landed in Karachi, the hijackers entered the aircraft wearing security guard uniforms. They threw the hand grenades too, one of which fell on my friend Rupal (18), sitting next to me. There were 14 flight attendants on board, 12 . The air conditioner stopped, the lights went off. . On the hand he was he giving me water and on the other he was still a threat to my life. (In group shot - far left): Massey. After the crash, Trahan and her father, who was working when the plane hit, moved away from Kenner to be closer to family. I realised I couldnt stand. The crash killed all 146 other people aboard the plane, as well as eight Kenner residents, including Trahans mother and 4-year-old sister. Following is a partial list of the casualties on Pan Am Flight 73, which was hijacked Friday in Karachi, Pakistan, as made public yesterday by Pan American World Airways. August 29, 1991 - A 126-count indictment is returned under seal (i.e., in secret) by a grand jury in the District of Columbia. It was blamed for a string of attacks in the 1970s and 80s, killing and wounding hundreds of people, The Pan Am crew were recognised with courage awards by the airline in 1986, the US Department of Justice in 2005 and the US attorney general in 2006. Around 4 pm, we were served some cold drinks and snacks.The most incredible memory is that of Neerja gesturing the passengers to hide their American passports. Pan Am flight 73 hijacking, takeover of a Pan American World Airways jet on September 5, 1986, by hijackers linked to the Ab Nil Organization. We were pushed to another compartment of the aircraft. Asked about the role of Pakistani commandos in ending the hijack episode, he said grimly, None of the people saw any commandos., When the lights went out in the plane, he said, the terrorists killed indiscriminately, firing their machine guns from less than a yard away.. The university's annual Remembrance Week, which runs October 20-26, features a candlelight vigil . 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. And screams.". When armed terrorists stormed the plane on the tarmac in Karachi, Pakistan, early on Sept. 5, 1986, Dav was 10 years old, flying with her 13-year-old sister from India to the United States. Gargi Dav argues that they could file in foreign courts. I knew non-Americans could go to their own governments. CORNELIUS, MRS. D., Woodland Hill, Calif. HALLDORSON, Raymond, Laguna Hills, Calif. JOHNSTON, Patricia, Newport Beach, Calif. McCULLOUGH, Gertrude, Santa Barbara, Calif. MITCHELL, Walter, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, MITCHELL, Evonne, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. She had been shot in the lower left leg as she rushed to an emergency exit and her back and neck were injured when she jumped down to the tarmac. 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. They let out a war cry," says Sunshine, "and began firing into the crowd. December 3, 2009 - The FBI announced that it has added the four fugitive hijackers to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list. At the center of that showdown is their 16-hour ordeal, during which the gunmen killed 20 passengers and wounded more than 100. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. He caught me doing that and asked whether I was a journalist. But if they accede to the demands of the law firm, Crowell & Moring, to share the money with the 137 non-Americans in the case, the Davs estimate they would lose 90 percent of the money negotiated for them. They have thrown every bit of their resources into trying to shut her up.. The crew of Pan Am Flight 73 (three of whom are pictured here with their colleagues) were all in their early to mid 20s at the time of the hijack. He held the gun in one hand and with the other he gave me water. Were hoping that with the age-progression photos next to the original photos maybe that will jar some memories or maybe someone has seen these guys walking around.. Tenerife killing approx. Defendant Safarini will be held in prison pending trial. Budget 2023. A certain Mr. Mohammadbhai, a businessman from Karachi, known to a relative of Utpala came to us asking if he could help. In 2005, at the urging of other Flight 73 survivors, she and her sister joined a group that hired the Washington, D.C. law firm of Crowell & Moring to pursue claims against the Libyan government, which had backed several international terrorist exploits, including the 1988 Pan Am explosion over Lockerbie, Scotland. The report of the Lockerbie Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI), which was held at Dumfries in Scotland from October 1990 to February 1991, explained how Pan Am Flight 103 was sabotaged. On September 5, 1986, Pan Am flight 73, a Boeing 747, departed Mumbai for New York with scheduled stops in Karchi and Frankfurt. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. They saw another door had been deployed in automatic, which meant that the emergency slide was inflated. Sherene saw that mechanic Meherjee had been killed. On December 21 Pan Am Flight 103 crashed on Lockerbie after the bombing of a Boeing 747-121. "The pilots evacuating the airplane meant that we were not at the mercy of the terrorists, who could have instructed the plane to be flown into a building, or even blown up whilst in flight.". They threw the hand grenades too, one of which fell on my friend Rupal, sitting next to me. The Boeing 747, known as the Clipper Maid of the Seas, left London Heathrow with 243 passengers and 16 crew members, including 189 Americans. BY xms3200 - Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:04 am. Read about our approach to external linking. The shooting began when the hijackers fired in panic as the lights went out in the Boeing 747 on a runway in Karachi, Pakistan, on Friday. Pan Am Flight 759 went down shortly after takeoff in a Kenner neighborhood on July 9, 1982, killing all 145 on board. One of the hijackers removed a blanket and covered her with it because she was wearing a short skirt. Captain Robert Bragg was the co-pilot aboard the Pan Am plane, and was one of the few who survived the collision. We were told to raise our hands and sit. But win or lose, what strikes me is how a 10-year-old victim has grown up to be an intelligent and passionate young lawyer willing to take on a big international law firm that has threatened her with legal reprisals. Following is a list of passengers on the Pan American Boeing 747 airliner who were killed in the Canary Islands crash, as provided Monday to The Associated Press by Pan American officials: BRADLEY, Col. Clittro, San Juan Capisl, Calif. BRADLEY, Marlorie, San Juan Capist, Calif. BRANDCNBERG, Brita, Corona del Mar, Calif. CAZA, Elizabeth, Winosor, Oatario, Canada. "Neerja was put into the ambulance without a stretcher.". "The stories may differ but the spirit remains the same.". Download a PDF reader or learn more about PDFs. 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. Sherene, and another colleague Ranee Vaswani, were the last two hostages to leave the plane. The powerful emotions that stick in Gargi Dav's 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 . Va., flight attendant. I told the terrorist I wanted some water. Become a Member. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! There were 14 flight attendants on board, 12 of whom were preparing for take-off. Sunshine remained alert. About 7:00 pm on December 21, Pan Am flight 103, a Boeing 747 en route to New York City from . Victim impact statements should be submitted to the prosecution team by March 1, 2004. We went back inside trying to exit from another door during which we lost each other. Contact the Webmaster to submit comments. And their battle offers a fascinating glimpse at the conflicts that erupt between victims and their lawyers. The spokeswoman said anyone calling the State Department for information about a permanent resident would have been advised to call the embassy representing the passengers nationality. By law, the government will have 30 days to decide whether to appeal this ruling. It shocked the world, and is the subject of a newly released film, but the surviving crew have until now remained silent. December 16, 2003 - Defendant Safarini pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to all 95 counts of the superseding indictment against him in connection with the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73. As the result of a 2008 pact between the Bush administration and the Libyan government of Moammar Gadhafi, Dav has received a payment of $3 million. My father, Kalpesh Dalal, was extremely disturbed. Had they not, the terrorists would have taken the flight somewhere and blown up the aircraft. We take you down the emotional journey "Neerja was standing right next to the exit. New Delhi, UPDATED: Sep 5, 2017 17:13 IST. It remains the worlds deadliest air disaster. 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. Courageous crew members like Sunshine went back into the plane to look for survivors when the gunfire ceased and found . 19 Jan, 2018, 11.19 PM IST. Shahs family members, whom he had sent to Bombay to visit friends and relatives, were apparently uninjured. "I didn't see medical facilities at the airport besides minor first aid The hospital was several kilometres away from the airport," says Dilip. Similar findings are made by the Court on May 3, 2002, and again on November 1, 2002. Under the plea agreement announced in court, the government has agreed not to litigate further the Courts prior ruling that the death penalty was not available in this case in exchange for Safarini agreeing to the following terms, among other things: (1) a guilty plea to all 95 counts of the indictment; (2) an agreement that Safarini will be sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment on each count, with some counts to run consecutively and some to run concurrently, for a total sentence of three consecutive life sentences plus 25 years, which is equivalent to 160 years in prison; (3) an agreement that, as the result of the consecutive sentencing, there will be no mandatory parole release date for Safarini during his lifetime; (4) an acknowledgment that, despite the fact that Safarini will have a right to parole proceedings under governing law at the time the hijacking took place, the government intends to oppose his release on parole at any time during his lifetime; (5) an agreement by Safarini to waive any appeal of the sentence, to waive any collateral attack on the plea or the sentence and to forego any motion for reduction of sentence; and (6) an agreement that Safarini will cooperate whenever, and in whatever form, the United States shall reasonably request, including by testifying against his co-defendants, if and when any of them comes into United States custody. Sixteen-month-old Melissa Trahan, on stretcher, is rushed from the scene of the crash of Pan Am Flight 759 in Kenner, La. We were even scared to look at him.. Gari Dave is now a Sunnyvale attorney and she is representing a group of other survivors who are fighting to keep millions in restitution paid to the survivors by the Libyan government, who admitted involvement in the hijacking. He had grenades on him. As they left the plane, Pratik pointed at his father and cried, Daddy, Daddy!. By India Today Web Desk: On this day, exactly 31 years ago, a young flight attendant named Neerja Bhanot boarded Pan Am Flight 73 that would be hijacked on its way to the United States of America. I realised I had survived. 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. Passengerlist of the PamAm. SARP, Aytel, Arlington. It was a short jump to reach the wing of the plane. The stench of her blood haunts me even today. 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. The next status hearing in the case is now scheduled for Monday May 19, 2003, at 2:00 p.m. Profession: Chief Finance OfficerI was 23 then. The US was paid 1.5 billion dollars in compensation by Libya. Contact Scott Herhold at sherhold@mercurynews.com or 408-275-0917. Though nearly everyone was paralyzed with fear, Neerja Bhanot wasted no time in trying to diffuse the situation. I could have run to the terminus. I hid below the seats so I was saved. The attack, which occurred aboard Pan Am Flight 73 during an airport stopover in Karachi, resulted in the deaths of 20 passengers and crew. Doctors did not think shed recover. I was wondering if the Pan Am pilots are still living, or even the cabin crew. They turned and ran back through the plane--and some gunfire--to the other wing, where they were able to slide to safety. Safarini, mid-joke, caught her and immediately pointed the gun at her head. They also want people to know they dearly miss their colleagues Neerja Bhanot and Meherjee Kharas.