At 19:03 on Thursday, December 21, 1988, an American airliner exploded mid-air and crashed in the tiny village of Lockerbie, Scotland. Located in Dumfries and Galloway County, Lockerbie is accessible by a major highway, the A74(M). Nearby, there are a train station, a park (King Edward) and a golf course. The Pan Am Flight 103 air crash investigation began shortly thereafter.
The peaceful, unassuming little town was never to be the same. Pan American Airlines Flight 103 was en route to New York City. Originating in Frankfurt, Germany, with a stop at London's Heathrow Airport to drop off and pick up passengers. At three minutes past seven that Thursday evening, Flight 103 exploded over the tiny village, killing 259 people, as well as 11 people on the ground. The explosion left a six-mile trail of destruction on the ground.
A few days before the crash, on December 18, the American embassies in Russia and Finland had issued warnings that a terrorist attack was planned on a Pan American airliner traveling from Frankfurt to the United States. Although the airline and the relevant police departments had been notified of the warning, it was not broadly broadcast to prospective passengers. Among the people who were supposed to be on the flight but changed their minds or were prevented at the last minute were South African foreign minister Pik Botha, Indian mechanic Jaswant Basuta (initially considered a suspect) and popular US singing group, the Four Tops.
An unaccompanied suitcase was discovered to have been flown from Malta to Frankfurt, where it was placed on Pan Am Flight 103A to London. Coincidentally, or not, the plane in Malta had also been boarded by Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, later convicted of murder for masterminding the attack. To prevent future incidents of unaccompanied luggage, security at minor airports all over the globe has been strictly tightened in the wake of the Lockerbie incident.
Careful searches of the local area during the investigation revealed almost sixty pieces of a suitcase that had evidence of extreme bomb damage. A circuit board, believed to have been part of the bomb, was located wrapped in a kid's t-shirt that was purchased in Malta. At first, when the shopkeeper in Malta was questioned as to who purchased the shirt, he said it was al-Megrahi. He later recanted this claim.
The trial, which began in 2000 and concluded in 2001, was held in the neutral state of the Netherlands. Because the incident had occurred in the skies over Lockerbie, al-Megrahi was tried under Scottish Law. The trial lasted for nine months.
The trial went on for nine months, after which the Libyan national was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 27 years. He was revealed to be suffering from prostate cancer in 2008 and released from prison and flown home to Libya on compassionate grounds by then Scottish Justice, Kenny MacAskill. This was an extremely controversial move, causing anger on both sides of the Atlantic. Rubbing salt into the wound, his countrymen in Libya greeted him as a hero.
The Pan Am Flight 103 air crash investigation was led by Chief Inspector Watson McAteer and John Orr of Scotland. On the American team were Lawrence Whittaker, Robert Muller, Vincent Cannistraro and James Shaughnessy. One year after the crash, the investigation had amassed 35,000 photographs, 15,000 statements and 12,700 name cards. Investigators had traveled to 13 countries.
The peaceful, unassuming little town was never to be the same. Pan American Airlines Flight 103 was en route to New York City. Originating in Frankfurt, Germany, with a stop at London's Heathrow Airport to drop off and pick up passengers. At three minutes past seven that Thursday evening, Flight 103 exploded over the tiny village, killing 259 people, as well as 11 people on the ground. The explosion left a six-mile trail of destruction on the ground.
A few days before the crash, on December 18, the American embassies in Russia and Finland had issued warnings that a terrorist attack was planned on a Pan American airliner traveling from Frankfurt to the United States. Although the airline and the relevant police departments had been notified of the warning, it was not broadly broadcast to prospective passengers. Among the people who were supposed to be on the flight but changed their minds or were prevented at the last minute were South African foreign minister Pik Botha, Indian mechanic Jaswant Basuta (initially considered a suspect) and popular US singing group, the Four Tops.
An unaccompanied suitcase was discovered to have been flown from Malta to Frankfurt, where it was placed on Pan Am Flight 103A to London. Coincidentally, or not, the plane in Malta had also been boarded by Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, later convicted of murder for masterminding the attack. To prevent future incidents of unaccompanied luggage, security at minor airports all over the globe has been strictly tightened in the wake of the Lockerbie incident.
Careful searches of the local area during the investigation revealed almost sixty pieces of a suitcase that had evidence of extreme bomb damage. A circuit board, believed to have been part of the bomb, was located wrapped in a kid's t-shirt that was purchased in Malta. At first, when the shopkeeper in Malta was questioned as to who purchased the shirt, he said it was al-Megrahi. He later recanted this claim.
The trial, which began in 2000 and concluded in 2001, was held in the neutral state of the Netherlands. Because the incident had occurred in the skies over Lockerbie, al-Megrahi was tried under Scottish Law. The trial lasted for nine months.
The trial went on for nine months, after which the Libyan national was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 27 years. He was revealed to be suffering from prostate cancer in 2008 and released from prison and flown home to Libya on compassionate grounds by then Scottish Justice, Kenny MacAskill. This was an extremely controversial move, causing anger on both sides of the Atlantic. Rubbing salt into the wound, his countrymen in Libya greeted him as a hero.
The Pan Am Flight 103 air crash investigation was led by Chief Inspector Watson McAteer and John Orr of Scotland. On the American team were Lawrence Whittaker, Robert Muller, Vincent Cannistraro and James Shaughnessy. One year after the crash, the investigation had amassed 35,000 photographs, 15,000 statements and 12,700 name cards. Investigators had traveled to 13 countries.
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