He went on to describe the families of the Lockerbie victims as very greedy: "They were asking for more money and more money and more money". WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The pilot and at least 147 other victims of the Lockerbie disaster may have survived the bomb blast that ripped the plane apart at 31,000 feet and died when they hit the ground, a forensic pathologist said. With a total of 270 fatalities, it is the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom, as well as its deadliest aviation disaster.[2]. Witnesses in Lockerbie and the surrounding areas reported portions of the aircraft falling from the sky, some of which appeared to be engulfed in flames, according to a 2020 affidavit by a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent, shared by the US Department of Justice. My task was to figure out how to support 270 families through a trial in another country, she said. Some of the destruction caused by Pan Am Flight 103 after it crashed onto the town of Lockerbie in Scotland, on 21st December 1988. Theres no other place we feel as connected to him as on the farm. [45], Just days before the sabotage of the aircraft, security forces in European countries, including the UK, were put on alert after a warning from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that extremists might launch terrorist attacks to undermine the then-ongoing dialogue between the United States and the PLO. A large, private space for families next to the courtroom became known as the safe haven. It was a lounge for the families to wait in before, during, and right after the trial, Turman said. Two of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster may have initially survived the explosion, a report suggests. It was just a case of moving on then, but in years since it was something that bothered me. Dark Elegy is the work of sculptor Suse Lowenstein of Long Island, whose son Alexander, then 21, was a passenger on the flight. [46], On the day of the bombing, the French Directorate-General for External Security was informed by their British counterpart that the UK suspected the Libyans to be behind the bombing.[47]. All 259 people on board were killed . They stressed that the case file had been completely closed politically and legally, according to the text of the agreement signed between the United States and Libya in 2003. [120] On 1 November 2009, it was reported that Gordon Brown had ruled out a public inquiry into Lockerbie, saying in response to Dr Swire's letter: "I understand your desire to understand the events surrounding the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 but I do not think it would be appropriate for the UK government to open an inquiry of this sort." Ive watched many Pan Am 103 families from the vantage point of almost 30 years, being able to see how they've managed, how they've coped, how they've suffered, but also how they've been able to bring meaning to a meaningless, senseless tragedy. "[144], In an interview shown in BBC Two's The Conspiracy Files: Lockerbie[145] on 31 August 2008, Saif Gaddafi said that Libya had admitted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing simply to get trade sanctions removed. Mum had been so worried about him dying alone in the cold of the Scottish countryside. The FBI, the Justice Department, no one really had much of a program of assistance in 1988 when Pan Am 103 happened, Turman said. appreciated. On 5 December 1988 (16 days prior to the attack), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a security bulletin saying that, on that day, a man with an Arabic accent had telephoned the US Embassy in Helsinki, Finland, and told them that a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt to the United States would be blown up within the next two weeks by someone associated with the Abu Nidal Organization; he said a Finnish woman would carry the bomb on board as an unwitting courier. The lifeless bodies of Pan Am Flight 103's crew and more than a dozen first class passengers lay almost intact amid the devastation of the downed plane. Colin Dorrance was on duty outside the town hall when a farmer drove down from the hills in a pick-up truck with debris from Pan Am 103 and, placed in the front seat, the body of a young girl. Taylor claimed that the PA 103 bomb could have been planted then.[72]. Its nice to come here, she explained. August 2003: UN sanctions lifted against Libya after Tripoli accepts blame and compensates families. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Forty-six seconds after the bomb on Pan Am Flight 103 detonated, the aircraft's wings hit Sherwood Crescent, close to Mr Giesecke's Park Place home, at 500mph, disintegrating on impact and leaving . Pan Am Flight 103. And its not just for the 35 they lost. [83], On 15 October 2008, five Scottish judges decided unanimously to reject a submission by the Crown Office, which sought to limit the scope of Megrahi's second appeal to the specific grounds of appeal that were identified by the SCCRC in June 2007. On 20 December 1988, Swire's 23-year-old daughter Flora, who wanted to fly to the United States to spend Christmas with her American boyfriend, had little difficulty in booking a seat on the next day's half-empty transatlantic Pan Am Flight 103.Flora died when it crashed at the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 including 11 on the ground.. The fuselage of the aircraft was reconstructed by air accident investigators, revealing a 20-inch (510mm) hole consistent with an explosion in the forward cargo hold. The perpetrators had apparently intended the plane to crash into the sea, destroying any traceable evidence, but its explosion over land left a trail of evidence.[56]. Megrahi was found guilty of 270 counts of murder on 31 January 2001, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in Scotland; his co-defendant, Fhimah, was found not guilty. The family of Frank Ciulla, one of 259 flight passengers who died when Pan-Am flight 103 was bombed, has spoken of the friendship they've built with the family that found him. [167], It was announced in April 2013 that part of the wreckage was transferred to a secure location in Dumfries, Scotland, and that it remains evidence in the ongoing criminal investigation. And He Wants to Take Libya Back", "African Manipulations: Tainted Evidence of Libyan Terrorism", "Oliver "Buck" Revell speaks for International Speakers Bureau", "Libya offers $2.7billion Pan Am 103 settlement", "Security Council lifts sanctions imposed on Libya after terrorist bombings of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772", "Lockerbie lawyer says 200m fee is 'good value', Saif al-Gaddafi says "Libyans are innocent" of the Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 bombings, "Gaddafi's son attacks "greedy" Lockerbie relatives in BBC Two documentary", "Khadafy ordered Lockerbie bombing, says Libyan minister", "The Influence Game: Lobbyists who aided families of Pan Am bombing victims earn $2million fee", The night fire and victims rained on Lockerbie, "Cornell professorship funded by $3.8 million Libyan payment for student killed in Lockerbie bombing", "The Women of Lockerbie Deborah Brevoort", "Google Streetview Sherwood Crescent Memorial", "Lockerbie disaster Pan am flight 103 remains lie forgotten in a Lincolnshire scrapyard", "Authentic Pan Am 103 cockpit wreck photo", "Lockerbie wreckage parts returned to Scotland", The Scottish indictment against Megrahi and Fhimah, The U.S. indictment against Megrahi and Fhimah, "No:2/9 Boeing 747-121, N739PA, at Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland", Graphic of how the aircraft was destroyed, United Nations Security Council Resolution 731 (1992), United Nations Security Council Resolution 748 (1992), United Nations Security Council Resolution 883 (1993), "Lessons from Lockerbie, ten years later", "Lockerbie, 10 years on: Reporter's reflections", "Libya offers $2.7billion Lockerbie settlement", "Scottish Court in the Netherlands 20002002", Pan Am 103 Lockerbie Air Disaster Archives, Aircraft Accident Report 2/1990 Report on the accident to Boeing 747-121, N739PA, at Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland on 21 December 1988, 2/1990 Aircraft Accident Report 2/1990, Appendices AG, Defense Intelligence Agency Redacted Pan Am Report, "It Happened in Lockerbie 20 August 09 Part 1", International observer mission of the president of the International Progress Organization, Dr. Hans Koechler, at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands ("Lockerbie Court"), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pan_Am_Flight_103&oldid=1141600700, A male caller claimed that a group called the "Guardians of the Islamic Revolution" had destroyed the plane in retaliation for. -- Here's a list of the 270 people killed 25 years ago today in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988. Pan Am flight 103, also called Lockerbie bombing, flight of a passenger airliner operated by Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988, after a bomb was detonated. Libya said it had to accept responsibility due to Megrahi's status as a government employee.[4]. This was backed up by a delegation of Lockerbie relatives, led by Pamela Dix, who went to 10 Downing Street on 24 October 2009 and handed over a letter addressed to Gordon Brown calling for a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the need for a public inquiry and the main issues that it should address. Within a week of what Scottish authorities were calling the Lockerbie air disaster, it was determined that Pan Am Flight 103 had been destroyed by a bomb. Written to Lord Fraser of Carmyllie Scotlands senior law officer it copied in PM Margaret Thatcher and raised concerns at families joining together to seek the truth. The suitcase was then routed to a feeder flight in Frankfurt bound for Londons Heathrow Airport, where it was ultimately loaded onto the doomed jet. The cabin crew was based at Heathrow and lived in the London area or commuted from around Europe. (5 minutes) LOCKERBIE, ScotlandThe sky rained fire on a chill December night here in 1988. People had gone through a lot of different life experiences since then, but almost everyone had an avid interest in the trial.. Investigators believed that two Libyan intelligence agents were responsible for the bombing; many speculated that the attack had been retaliation for a 1986 U.S. bombing campaign against Libyas capital city, Tripoli. Syracuse University Remembrance Scholars took their seats on the Quad at noon for 35 minutes, honoring the 35 students killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Based on a 1995 investigation by journalists Paul Foot and John Ashton, alternative explanations of the plot to commit the Lockerbie bombing were listed by The Guardian's Patrick Barkham in 1999. Across the town, across Scotland, across the world, the scale of the tragedy was becoming clear. "[20]:16, The British Geological Survey 23 kilometres (14mi) away at Eskdalemuir registered a seismic event at 19:03:36 measuring 1.6 on the moment magnitude scale, which was attributed to the impact. There were hundreds of passengers brought into the town hall. [99][100], According to The New York Times, Mas'ud was born in Tunisia in 1951, before he became a citizen of Libya as a child after he moved to Tripoli, Libya. It was like war for them, said Lockerbie resident Moira Shearer, speaking of the young soldiers who had never seen death before. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. The trial began on May 3, 2000. The work consists of 43 nude statues of the wives and mothers who lost a husband or a child. Keegans' mother was also unharmed, having been shielded from debris by a refrigerator-freezer. [54] The Iranian foreign ministry swiftly denied any involvement. The Libyan government claimed the air strikes killed Hana Gaddafi, a daughter Gaddafi claimed he adopted (her reported age has varied between 15 months and seven years). Shortly after Mueller became FBI Director in 2001just days before the 9/11 attackshe asked Turman to establish a new Office for Victim Assistance at the FBI. Looking back, it was building those relationships that allowed us to come together to share information that led to an eventual solution in the case.. The unaccompanied bag is believed to have been transferred to a Pan Am flight to London and then to Flight 103. [1] Large sections of the aircraft crashed in a residential street in Lockerbie, killing 11 residents. In 2009 Megrahi, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, was released from prison in Scotland on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya; the United States strongly disagreed with the Scottish governments decision. [114], Prior to the abandonment of Megrahi's second appeal against conviction and while new evidence could be still tested in court, there had been few calls for an independent inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing. Thirty years after the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, the FBI and its partners are still actively seeking justice for the 270 victims and their families. Flying at an altitude of 31,000 feet, the aircraft had just crossed the border into Scotland when the bomb exploded. There was not an emergency plan as such at the time, said Stuart Cossar, a Police Scotland detective inspector who until his recent retirement was the deputy senior investigating officer for the ongoing investigation. Rescue . Fragments of a Samsonite suitcase believed to have contained the bomb were recovered, together with parts and pieces of circuit board identified as components of a Toshiba 'Bombeat' RT-SF16, radio cassette player, similar to that used to conceal a Semtex bomb seized by West German police from the Palestinian militant group PLO-GC two months earlier. At the end of his shift, he would see the laundry ladies arriving. The level of collaboration at the trial between the FBI, Department of Justice, and other federal law enforcement agencies, along with Scottish partnerswho had already set a remarkable example of compassion toward victims in the aftermath of the bombingforged a connection between family members, investigators, and victim advocates that exists to this day. And another generation will be poised to keep the memories alive. Victoria Cummock's husband was among the 259 passengers who died after a bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 103 on Dec. 21, 1988, just north of the England-Scotland border. The people of Lockerbie, said Alex Smith, a retired police officer from the town, were fantastic. In the face of their own tragedy, they rallied and gave every assistance they possibly could.. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Although it is sadly symbolic that the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 occurred on that day, it is perhaps more meaningful to consider that the responses to the tragedythe kindnesses shown, the friendships made, the positive changes to aviation security, and law enforcements care for victimscontinue to cast a very bright light into the world all these years later. As the forward fuselage continued to disintegrate, the flying debris tore off both of the horizontal stabilizers, while the rear fuselage, the remaining three engines, and the fin torque box separated. On Sunday, the US Justice Department said that Masud was in US custody. On Dec. 21, 1988, a bomb went off on a Pan Am passenger plane flying over Lockerbie, Scotland, causing a midair explosion that sent the aircraft crashing down. Other theories implicate Libya and Abu Nidal, and apartheid South Africa. The Rev John Mosey, who lost his teenage daughter Helga, says: I could hear little clicks and clunks when on the phone and Lockerbie documents disappeared from my computer. The colleges attended by some students are identified . [128][129], On 29 September 1989, President Bush appointed Ann McLaughlin Korologos, former Secretary of Labor, to chair the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism (PCAST) to review and report on aviation security policy in the light of the sabotage of flight PA103. "Lockerbie pair 'could have survived', This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 21:49. Flight Engineer Jerry D. Avritt (46), who joined Pan Am in 1980 after 13 years with National Airlines, had more than 8,000 hours of flying time, with nearly 500 hours in the 747. For the families of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie and its residents will forever hold a place in their hearts. When he got news of the crash, he made his way to Lockerbie near midnight and was placed in charge of an area called Sector B. At 18, Colin Dorrance was the youngest police officer on duty that night and has never forgotten the child who was brought to him by the farmer. The 200,000lb (91,000kg) of jet fuel ignited by the impact started fires, which destroyed several additional houses. The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 December 21, 1988 sent a shock wave around the world. It was held at a former U.S. Air Force base in the Netherlands called Camp Zeist, which was converted into a Scottish court as well as a detention facility for the two defendants. However, he says, although there may be bias against older entrepreneurs, his experience is a benefit, not a . Afterward, United States and British investigators found fragments of a circuit board and a timer, and ruled that a bomb, not mechanical failure, caused the explosion. According to the report, the rest of the wreckage composed of "the complete fuselage forward of approximately station 480 to station 380 and incorporating the flight deck and nose landing gear was found as one piece in a field approximately 4 kilometres (2.5mi) east of Lockerbie. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Did you encounter any technical issues? Thirty-five Syracuse students returning home from a study abroad program were killed on the flight, and the university vowed never to forget them. Others sought the comfort of the peaceful memorials erected to honor the victims. There is also a book of remembrance at Lockerbie public library and another at Tundergarth Church. Two alerts were released shortly before the bombing. We wanted to do justice by these families.. On Dec. 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103, en route from London's Heathrow Airport to New York, exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 243 passengers, 16 crew members and 11 people on the ground. It really wasnt until the two Libyans were handed over for trial that the plight of the families came back up. He credits the Scots thoroughness and professionalism, under extreme circumstances, with finding critical evidencepieces of the suitcase containing the bomb, fragments of a circuit board, bits of clothing traced to a Malta businessthat led to the Libyan intelligence officers. [97] Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said that people should use the occasion to remember the Lockerbie victims. [151], There are several private and public memorials to the PA103 victims. The CIA and FBI said the suspects, employed by Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta, were also Libyan intelligence agents.