Today in history: Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie - AeroTime Newsletter signup Trending Civil Aviation Airlines Aircraft Airport Cargo MRO Defense Technology Sustainability Space Aviation economics Discover Women in Aviation Aviation Top 10s Aviation Quiz Aviation History Video Profile About us Advertise with us Join our team Trending Civil Aviation Airlines Aircraft Airport Cargo MRO Read More 2 minute read Airlines Aviation Career Life after politics: US Congressman resumes job as Hawaiian Airlines A330 pilot Read More 2 minute read Airlines Civil Aviation Southwest Airlines sued for allegedly breaching passenger refund policy Read More 2 minute read Airlines Emirates signs agreement with Bahamas to boost tourism Read More 2 minute read Airlines Etihad Cargo to add capacity on flights to the United States from Q2 2023 Defense Technology Technology Sustainability Read More 2 minute read Aviation Technology and Innovation AIR’s AIR ONE eVTOL aircraft completes first full transition to cruise flight Read More 2 minute read Aviation Technology and Innovation Space UK grants Virgin Orbit licenses to launch satellites Read More 1 minute read Aviation Technology and Innovation Spanish police force tests EHang eVTOL Read More 3 minute read Aviation Technology and Innovation Russia’s supersonic airliner technology demonstrator to enter production in 2023 Space Discover Women in Aviation Aviation Top 10s Aviation Quiz Read More 5 minute read Women in Aviation How the CEO of P2F firm Avensis uses his position to drive equality in aviation Read More 8 minute read Women in Aviation Meet the underdog who is breaking down barriers for women in aviation Read More 7 minute read Women in Aviation Breaking barriers: how women shaped aviation history in the US Read More 1 minute read Women in Aviation Nathalie Tarnaud Laude to take over at aircraft maker ATR, its first female CEO About AeroTime About us Advertise with us Careers AviationCV The Latest Phillip Washington could become FAA administrator if US senate approves Philippine transport advocacy group urges affected travelers to sue CAAP Life after politics: US Congressman resumes job as Hawaiian Airlines A330 pilot French BEA agrees with NTSB on Ethiopian 737 MAX report lacking crew factors Zipair Zimbabwe Ziemelis ZEROe ZeroAvia hydrogen-powered aircraft ZeroAvia zero-emissions Zero emission Zephyr Zambia Airways Aviation HistoryToday in history: Pan Am Flight 103, LockerbiebyAlec Wignall2022-12-213 minute read Air Accident Investigation Branch Report No: 2/1990 On the evening of December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was cruising at 31,000 feet over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie. The aircraft, ‘Clipper Maid of the Seas’, was a Boeing 747-100 en route from London Heathrow to New York carrying 243 passengers along with 16 crew, most of whom were traveling home for the Christmas holiday. At just after 1900 UTC, a bomb detonated on board, tearing a hole through the fuselage. Within seconds, the Boeing 747 broke apart and debris began raining down on the town of Lockerbie. The main center fuselage and wing section crashed into a residential area, destroying three houses on impact, and creating a crater over 140 feet in length. More than 200,000 lbs of jet fuel for the transatlantic journey ignited fires which destroyed several more houses in the town. The impact of Pan Am Flight 103 registered 1.6 on the Richter scale. Only days before Christmas, the quiet town of Lockerbie, situated in the Scottish Lowlands, was devastated. The world watched as haunting images of the crash site emerged, and the scale of the disaster became clear. Tragically, all 259 passengers and crew on board perished while a further 11 were killed on the ground in Lockerbie. The mammoth task that investigators faced became clear with a debris field stretching more than 2,000 square kilometers. Over 1,000 police and soldiers combed through fields surrounding the site for evidence and debris, and would go on to retrieve more than four million pieces by the end of the investigation. One week after the crash, British investigators announced they had found traces of explosive residue and the team began assembling the fuselage in Farnborough using the wreckage as giant jigsaw pieces. The part-reconstructed fuselage showed a hole in the forward cargo hold. Once investigators knew where the explosion had occurred, they turned to identifying debris from the baggage containers and found which container the bomb had been loaded into. After analyzing the debris, it emerged that the suitcase which housed the bomb was likely a brown, hard-shell Samsonite case, and clothes inside were traced to a small shop in Malta. The explosive device was disguised inside a Toshiba cassette player with a timer intended to detonate over the sea, destroying the aircraft along with any evidence. However, following a delay on the ground at Heathrow, the timer stopped over Lockerbie. It is believed the suitcase originated from a connecting flight in Frankfurt. But the passenger who checked in the bag never boarded Flight 103. Pan Am eventually filed for bankruptcy, in part due to the after-effects of the bombing of Flight 103 during which the company was found guilty for willful misconduct. The airline had not followed ‘Passenger Baggage Reconciliation’ protocol which is in place to prevent the loading of a bag without an accompanying passenger. Twelve years after the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, was convicted of mass murder. Later, in 2009, he was released by the Scottish Government on compassionate grounds and died at his home in Tripoli in 2012. In December 2020, the US announced it had filed charges against a Libyan man accused of making the bomb which brought down Flight 103. Earlier this month, on December 11, 2022, just short of the 34th anniversary of the deadliest terror attack on British soil, it was announced that the suspect, named as Abu Mohammad Masud, was now in United States custody. It was reported in November 2022 that Masud had been kidnapped by a militia group in Libya, prompting speculation that he would be handed to the US authorities. Aviation historyPan AmScotland Share Tweet Share Share Sign Up for Our Newsletters Get notified of the hottest news Subscribe By checking this box, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use Latest Phillip Washington could become FAA administrator if US senate approves 2023-01-04 Philippine transport advocacy group urges affected travelers to sue CAAP 2023-01-04 Life after politics: US Congressman resumes job as Hawaiian Airlines A330 pilot 2023-01-04 French BEA agrees with NTSB on Ethiopian 737 MAX report lacking crew factors 2023-01-04 Southwest Airlines sued for allegedly breaching passenger refund policy 2023-01-04 Related Posts Read More Aviation History Today in history: the Lufthansa heist On this day, in the early hours of December 11, 1978, six armed men in a stolen Ford… byAlec Wignall Read More Aviation History Celebrating 75 years of the Kangaroo Route: Qantas services to London 75 years ago, Qantas launched its own iconic route, now one of the world’s key air journeys: the… byRytis Beresnevicius Read More Aviation History On this day: The crash of South African Airlines flight 295 During the early hours of November 28, 1987, communication with South African Airlines (SAA) flight SA295, registration ZS-SAS,… byAleksandras Griskevicius Read More Aviation History How one elusive man changed aircraft design: The D.B. Cooper story Hijackings are now considered a rare occurrence. Unfortunately, during the 20th century, they were much more common compared… byRytis Beresnevicius Keep on top of the aviation and aerospace industry Join a community of over 200 thousand subscribers who receive our daily newsletter Subscribe By checking this box, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use AeroTime Part of Avia Solutions Group About us Advertise with us Join our team Terms of use Privacy policy Cookie policy Direct marketing terms Shareholder and UBO data privacy notice 10K 10K 10K We use cookies!Continue without agreeingHi, this website uses essential cookies to ensure its proper operation and tracking cookies to understand how you interact with it. The latter will be set only after consent.Agree and closeLearn MoreCookie preferencesCookie usageWe use cookies to ensure the basic functionalities of the website and to enhance your online experience. You can choose for each category to opt-in/out whenever you want. For more details relative to cookies and other sensitive data, please read the full privacy policy.Strictly necessary cookiesStrictly necessary cookiesThese cookies are essential for the proper functioning of my website. Without these cookies, the website would not work properlyPerformance and Analytics cookiesPerformance and Analytics cookiesThese cookies allow the website to remember the choices you have made in the pastAdvertisement and Targeting cookiesAdvertisement and Targeting cookiesThese cookies collect information about how you use the website, which pages you visited and which links you clicked on. All of the data is anonymized and cannot be used to identify youAgree to allDisagree to allSave settings