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Pan-Am flight 103, a Boeing 747 airliner carrying 259 passengersand crew, was en route from Frankfurt, Germany via London to New York at 31,000 feet when it it exploded into several large fragments. These fragments rained down on a 1000 square mile area of Britain and the surrounding ocean, however, the town of Lockerbie, Scotland was worst hit. Several large portions of the doomed plane hit Lockerbie, including the wings and engines. One large section crashed into residentail buildings in the city, causing an enormous crater. The impact was so violent that nearby British Geological Survey stations recorded it as a sesmic event of 1.6 on the Richter scale. All 259 aboard the plane were killed, alongwith 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie. Rescuers, investigators, and the press rushed to the crash site soon after the disaster. The question on everyone's mind was "Why did flight 103 crash?" Examination of the wreckage and radar returns pointed to a bomb. It was later determined that the bomb was hidden in a suitcase placed in the cargo hold. The bomb was a highly sophisticated explosive devise made of Symtex, a plastic explosive. Further investigation soon determined that this horrific act of terrorism had been commited by two Libyan nationals, Lameen Fihma and Abdelbasset Megrahi. The US and UK demanded the surrender of these two suspects by Libya, who refused. What followed were sanctions imposed by the UN until the suspects were finally handed over in 1999. Soon after the UN sactions against Libya were suspended. As part of the international agreement sorrounding the handover, the suspects were tried in a court in a neutral country, the Netherlands. The proscution was handled by some of Scotland's most distunguished barristers. On January 31, 2001, the verdicts were finally handed down, acquitting Fhima and finding Megrahi guilty. Both decisions were unanimous. Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment, with at least 20 years before he is elligible for parole. Fhima was released and returned to Libya. |
| The 80's History Project Terrorism Pam-Am Flight 103 Bombing Lockerbie, Scotland December 21, 1988 |
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| The crater and destroyed houses caused by the crash of a portion of Flight 103. |
| The remains of the cockpit of Flight 103. The bodies of a pilot and a stewardess were found inside. |