Bryony was travelling to the United States with her mother Yvonne Owen from Wales, to spend Christmas in Boston. All 259 on board die, and 11 on ground. The documents are understood to relate to the Mebo MST-13 timer that allegedly detonated the PA103 bomb. On Wednesday 21 December, 1988, just after 7pm, Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York exploded above the small Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the . [66], On 21 December 2020, the 32nd anniversary of the disaster, the United States attorney general announced that Abu Agela Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi, a Libyan national in custody in Libya, had been charged with terrorism-related crimes in connection with the bombing, accusing him of involvement in constructing the bomb. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Listen to article. "[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. Of the 270 total fatalities, 190 were American citizens and 43 were British citizens. I hope that the contents of this letter underline some of the reasons as to why I cannot possibly accept that any inquiry should be limited to Scotland, and I apologise if my previous personal letter of 24 August misled you over the main focus that the inquiry will need to address. And now, 26 years on, they have brought Franks grandchildren to a place that means so much to the family, laying roses at the spot where he was found and listening to Margaret and Hughs memories. A family of four was killed when their house at 15 Sherwood Crescent exploded. [78] Kchler criticised the SCCRC for exonerating police, prosecutors and forensic staff from blame in respect of Megrahi's alleged wrongful conviction. Air traffic control tried to make contact with the flight, with no response. At the time Ciulla was an executive working in the U.K. for Chase Manhattan Bank. In 1991, former FBI Director Robert Mueller was the assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice, and he was in charge of the Lockerbie investigation. Search instead in. The attack resulted in a devastating defeat for Gaddafi's forces, following which he had to accede to a ceasefire ending the Chadian-Libyan conflict and his dreams of African dominance. [80], A procedural hearing at the Appeal Court took place on 11 October 2007 when prosecution lawyers and Megrahi's defence counsel, Maggie Scott QC, discussed a number of legal issues with a panel of three judges. This annual ceremony remembers the 270 people, including 35 students studying abroad through Syracuse University, who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. On December 1988, the Boeing 747 was scheduled to fly from Frankfurt, Germany, to Detroit, Michigan, via London and New York. The plane had reached a height of approximately 31,000 feet (9,500 metres) and was preparing for the oceanic portion of the flight when a timer-activated bomb detonated. Covers the bombing of the Boeing 747 Pan American Airways flight 103 at Lockerbie, Scotland at 1903 hours on December 21, 1988 that killed 259 passengers and crew and 11 Lockerbie residents. Following his release, Megrahi published evidence on the Internet that was gathered for the abandoned second appeal which he claimed would clear his name. The CIA and FBI said the suspects, employed by Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta, were also Libyan intelligence agents. At the 20th anniversary service at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, former FBI Director Robert Mueller greeted Scottish and U.S. investigators who worked on the investigation. Also aboard was Irish Olympic sailor Peter Dix[29] and rock musician Paul Jeffreys and his wife. There are so many things we do now that are linked to lessons learned from Pan Am 103, Turman said. Investigators from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concluded that no emergency procedures had been started in the cockpit. November 1991: Libyans Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah accused. And Government files kept secret until now reveal that security service agents thought the families were getting organised and needed careful watching. Retired Special Agent Dick Marquise was assigned to lead the FBIs investigation. U.S. Said to Be Near Charges for Another Suspect in 1988 Lockerbie Bombing. Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Scottish police officers and Lockerbie residents regularly volunteered to be guides and companions to these special visitors, and because of the grace and compassion shown to grieving strangers a long way from home, lasting bonds were formed. . The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by Clipper Maid of the Seas, a Boeing 747-121 registered N739PA. Heres what you need to know about the deadliest terrorist attack to have taken place in the United Kingdom. As pieces of the aircraft hit the ground, some exploded. ", Cyclists in transatlantic Lockerbie tribute, Lockerbie bomber conviction to be reviewed, Brooke and Timmi prepare for world's greatest dog show, Man brandished knife during disturbance in Borders, court hears, John Lamont takes part in Teal Heroes event at Westminster, Scottish post office which is oldest in the world up for sale with its own cottage, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. 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. People were turning up for duty that had just finished a 10-hour shift but were prepared to come back out and work again right through the night., Harry Bell was a 42-year-old detective stationed near Glasgow, more than an hour away from Lockerbie. Concluding his extensive reply dated 27 October 2009 to the Prime Minister, Dr Swire said: You have now received a much more comprehensive letter requesting a full inquiry from our group 'UK Families-Flight 103'. He claims he was visited by two journalists who were security agents. For the families who lost loved ones; for the Scottish police officers, firefighters, and volunteers who responded to an unprecedented disaster; for investigators and prosecutors who dedicated years of effort to the case; and for the residents of Lockerbie, there is no forgetting December 21, 1988. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Pan Am Flight 103 . Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? "[citation needed], "Flight 103" redirects here. Colin chose not to use his position in the police to find out who the child was, feeling that it would have been unprofessional to do so. Over three years, investigators from the United States, Britain, Germany and other countries questioned more than 15,000 people in more than 30 countries and collected thousands of pieces of evidence. 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. They were only boys.. Thirty-five students studying abroad with Syracuse University were struck down from the sky on Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988, along with 224 other passengers and eleven Lockerbie residents, victims of a terrorist bombing. A sleeper cell belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command) had been operating in West Germany in the months before the Pan Am bombing. [84] In January 2009, it was reported that, although Megrahi's second appeal against conviction was scheduled to begin in April 2009, the hearing could last as long as 12 months because of the complexity of the case and volume of material to be examined. 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. Within minutes of running outside with his father, their home had burned to the ground. Inside each sculpture there is a personal memento of the victim. 2. 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. All 259 people on board were killed . "There's just a sense of peace, a sense of conclusion to it. 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. On the ground in Lockerbie, it was early evening. The captain, first officer, flight engineer, a flight attendant and several first-class passengers were found still strapped to their seats inside the nose section when it crashed in Tundergarth. Fhimah was acquitted. [65], In October 2015, Scottish prosecutors announced that they wanted to interview two Libyan nationals, whom they had identified as new suspects, over the bombing. The cargo area has been the site of explosives in past bombings, including that of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Bollier wanted to pursue this discrepancy, but was told by trial judge Lord Sutherland that he could not do so. -- 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. [156][157] The "Remembrance Scholarships" are among the highest honors a Syracuse undergraduate can receive. [55], The initial investigation into the crash site by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary involved many helicopter surveys, satellite imaging, and a search of the area by police and soldiers. In a matter of hours, thousands of police officers, firefighters, military personnel, and other volunteers converged on rural Lockerbie. The nose cone landed a few miles away in a field opposite a church, images of which would become an iconic testament to the tragedy. Tests were carried out on the bodies of 233 of the victims. Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi refused to turn over the two suspects. Thats the only way you are going to prevent attacks and solve attacks. The other man, Lamin Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted. Dr Jim Swire, 82, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing, said: We deserve to know who murdered our loved ones and why it was not prevented.. Some 300 tons of wreckage were scattered over an area measuring 845 square miles, making the disaster also a crime scene of massive proportions. All 259 on board die, and 11 on ground. Keegans' mother was also unharmed, having been shielded from debris by a refrigerator-freezer. (AP Photo: File)All over Lockerbie, those who hadn't been killed because 11 people on the . 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". There were hundreds of passengers brought into the town hall. A Libyan man accused of making the bomb which destroyed Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie 34 years ago is in United States custody, Scottish authorities . [10] It was the 15th 747 built, and was delivered in February 1970,[11][12] one month after the first 747 entered service with Pan Am. 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.. It was like war for them, said Lockerbie resident Moira Shearer, speaking of the young soldiers who had never seen death before. August 2009: Cancer victim al-Megrahi freed on compassionate grounds. In an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton called for Al-Megrahi to be extradited. Im quite proud of the Lockerbie people, actually., A month after the Pan Am Flight 103 attack, Syracuse University held a memorial service to honor its dead. A leading rights group has urged the U.S. and Libya to clarify the legality of a surprise extradition of a suspect in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland CAIRO -- A . The emotional impact of handling all those personal itemsa 2-year-olds dress, wrapped Christmas presents, a pilots uniformis an experience that has stayed with them. Lockerbie is changed. "It took me 25 years to find out who the farmer was but I gathered that he suffered quite terribly as a result of what he experienced that night, and I didn't want to awaken any bad feelings, so I left it alone.". These little details somehow softened the blow for us. Despite the passage of three decades, noted Mike McGarrity, who leads the Bureaus Counterterrorism Division, the FBI does not forget. Shortly after finishing his longtime run at the job, Mas'ud was arrested and imprisoned in Misurata, Libya before being moved to Al-Hadba prison in Tripoli, which happened shortly after the fall of Colonel el-Qaddafi in 2011. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. At 75, Richard Granat does not fit the stereotype of a startup entrepreneur. October 17, 1990. The cabin crew was based at Heathrow and lived in the London area or commuted from around Europe. On Sunday, the US Justice Department said that Masud was in US custody. [166] The remains include the nose section of the Boeing 747, which was cut into several pieces to assist in removal from Tundergarth Hill. 2 commission seat . 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]. [32][33] Matthew Gannon, the Central Intelligence Agency's deputy station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, was sitting in seat 14J, which is located in the business class (branded as "Clipper Class") cabin. The Scottish Government had already rejected an independent inquiry, saying it lacks the constitutional power to examine the international dimensions of the case.[121]. In what was described as a milestone in Scottish legal history, Lord Cullen granted the BBC permission in January 2002 to televise the appeal, and to broadcast it on the Internet in English with a simultaneous Arabic translation. [112], In turn, the US encouraged the Chadian National Armed Forces (FANT) and it also aided them by supplying them with satellite intelligence during the Battle of Maaten al-Sarra. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. AP Photo/Scott Heppell . In 2009, with al-Megrahi suffering from prostate cancer and believed to be near death, the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Justice issued what became a controversial ruling: They released him, allowing him to return to Libya to die. In many homes, dinner plates had been cleared away, televisions were tuned to This Is Your Life, and parents were wrapping presents. [1] Large sections of the aircraft crashed in a residential street in Lockerbie, killing 11 residents. What Syracuse has done is truly remarkable, Weipz said. In many ways, the reverberations are still being felt today. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? 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. On 14 March 2002, Lord Cullen took less than three minutes to deliver the decision of the High Court of Judiciary. We will never ever forget what they did for our father.. In addition, the university annually awards 35 scholarships to seniors to honour each of the 35 students killed. Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 21:49, terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Directorate-General for External Security, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command, Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, President of the United Nations General Assembly, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, 1933 United Airlines Boeing 247 mid-air explosion, "Clipper Maid of the Seas: Remembering those on flight 103", "Colonel Gaddafi 'ordered Lockerbie bombing", "Libya ready to accept responsibility for Lockerbie bombing", "Lockerbie investigators 'question former Stasi agents', "US unveils new charges against the suspect in 1988 Lockerbie bombing", "Lockerbie bombing suspect in US custody", "Photo: N739PA (CN: 19646) Boeing 747-121 by Jon Proctor Photoid:5894156 - JetPhotos.Net", "Pan Am Jet Crashes in Scotland, Killing at Least 273", "Diamonds in the Sky EP04 Aviation travel industry history series Conquering the Atlantic", "Court told how jet's radar blip broke up at 7.02pm", "UK | Lockerbie pair 'could have survived', "PaulJeffreys.com: website in the memory of Paul Jeffreys", "Honoring DS Fallen: Ronald Albert Lariviere", "EverythingPanAm.com The Virtual Pan Am Museum", "Lockerbie and the worst Christmas imaginable", "Pan Am Flight 103's Victims: A list of Those Killed 25 Years Ago", "Lockerbie: The town scarred by Pan Am flight 103", "Report of the President's Commission on Aviation Safety and Terrorism", "Muammar Gaddafi ordered Lockerbie bombing, says Libyan minister", "Khadaffi gav order om Lockerbie-attentatet [Gaddafi ordered the Lockerbie bombing]", "Libya rebel leader: I have evidence Gaddafi ordered Lockerbie", Gareth Pierce,24 September 2009, London Review of Books, "Secret CIA testimony identifies real Lockerbie mastermind", "Iran denies new Lockerbie bombing claims | SBS News", "US paid reward to Lockerbie witness, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi papers claim", "Scottish Panel Challenges Lockerbie Conviction", Report on Identification Procedures: Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi v. H.M. Advocate, "FBI offered me $4m: Lockerbie bomb witness", SCCRC Referral of Megrahi case for 2nd appeal, "Two new Lockerbie bombing suspects identified BBC News", "New Charges in Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing", "Lockerbie bombing suspect is now in US custody, Scottish authorities say", "Verdict of the Scottish Court in the Netherlands, 31 January 2001 from the official transcript", "Dr Hans Kchler's statement, August 2003", "Dr Hans Kchler's statement, October 2005", "Double standards in criminal justice: Pan Am Flight 103 v. HIV trial in Libya", "SCCRC refers Megrahi's case for second appeal", "SCCRC decides "a miscarriage of justice may have occurred", "Statement by Dr Hans Kchler on SCCRC decision, 29 June 2007", Lockerbie trial: an intelligence operation? 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. The next stage will see the group cycling 600 miles from the Lockerbie memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to Syracuse University, which lost 35 students in the bombing. Aviation security as we know it today did not exist in 1988. Detectives investigating the Lockerbie disaster revealed details yesterday of the painstaking investigation to find those responsible for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. 25 of 35 students were from Syracuse.". appreciated. [132], Jim Kreindler of the New York law firm Kreindler & Kreindler, which orchestrated the settlement, said: "These are uncharted waters. Other theories implicate Libya and Abu Nidal, and apartheid South Africa. Masud has been charged in a criminal complaint for allegedly providing the suitcase with the prepared explosive that was later placed on the flight. [50] Jalil claimed to possess "documents that prove [his allegations] and [that he is] ready to hand them over to the international criminal court. News4's Derrick Ward reports about what that means for loved ones of some of the local victims. There were a lot of things we looked at with Pan Am 103 that formed the basis for where we went with the Victim Assistance Program in the Bureau., The Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, Inc. group was formed in 1989, shortly after the bombing. Later, on 23 March 1986, a Libyan Navy patrol boat was sunk in the Gulf of Sidra,[106] followed by the sinking of another Libyan vessel on 25 March 1986. [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. "[131] The statement first came to public attention in the 1994 documentary film The Maltese Double Cross Lockerbie and was published in both The Guardian of 12 November 1994, and a special report from Private Eye magazine entitled Lockerbie, the flight from justice May/June 2001. Now retired, the 48-year-old is one of five men representing the emergency services who are taking part in a transatlantic fundraising bike ride to mark the 30th anniversary. Lockerbie farmer Kate Anderson has told the Mirror how 98 bodies rained down on her land. Collect, curate and comment on your files. Just a minute later, according to a video . [3] On 22 February 2011, during the Libyan Civil War, former Minister of Justice Mustafa Abdul Jalil stated in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Expressen that Gaddafi had personally ordered the bombing. 2:54 PM EST, Mon December 12, 2022. So, there is a headstone with the 11 people whose bodies were not . 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. On 23 September 2003, Megrahi applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) for his conviction to be reviewed, and on 28 June 2007, the SCCRC announced its decision to refer the case to the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh after it found he "may have suffered a miscarriage of justice". 2023 Getty Images. 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. It said activities of victims relatives would need careful watching. The rear fuselage of the plane, where many of them sat, destroyed one of the houses of Rosebank Crescent, 71 Park Place, the home of Lockerbie resident Ella Ramsden, who survived. It will always, in my view, outshine any terrorist act., Katie Berrell is a senior at Syracuse University, about the same age as her uncle, Steven Berrell, when he was killed on Pan Am Flight 103. Every 21 December, a service is held in the university's chapel at 14:03 (19:03 UTC), marking the moment the bomb on board the aircraft was detonated. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, while the aircraft was in flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, it was destroyed by . December 21, 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 from Frankfurt to Detroit via London blows up. A key suspect in 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people, the majority of them Americans, is in U.S. custody, officials confirmed Sunday. One of the British relatives, Martin Cadman, alleges that a member of President Bush's staff told him: "Your government and ours know exactly what happened but they are never going to tell. However, he says, although there may be bias against older entrepreneurs, his experience is a benefit, not a . In 2008, the UK government "decided to 'do all it could' to help the Libyans get Al-Megrahi home and explained the legal procedure for compassionate release to the Libyans."[94]. As time passed, many came to say thank you. * On Jan. 31, 2001, a three-judge Scottish court at a former U.S. base in the . Four days before Christmas in 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded 31,000 feet above Scotland. [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. . Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. Transcript of the proceedings of the Scottish court in the Netherlands 2001, day 86. The Dumfries and Galloway Constabularythen the smallest mainland police force in the United Kingdom, with fewer than two dozen of its approximately 300 officers serving Lockerbietook command of the scene. [163][164] In Sherwood Crescent there is a garden of remembrance to the seven Lockerbie residents killed when the aircraft's main wreckage fell there, destroying their homes.[165]. In all, 270 souls perished. He was released from prison on compassionate grounds on 20 August 2009. (5 minutes) LOCKERBIE, ScotlandThe sky rained fire on a chill December night here in 1988. The Libyan offer was that 40% of the money would be released when United Nations sanctions, suspended in 1999, were cancelled; another 40% when US trade sanctions were lifted; and the final 20% when the US State Department removed Libya from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. On 7 July 2009, the court reassembled for a procedural hearing and was told that because of the illness of one of the judges, Lord Wheatley, who was recovering from heart surgery, the final two substantive appeal sessions would run from 2 November to 11 December 2009, and 12 January to 26 February 2010. On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after takeoff from London. It was the first time the FBI was involved working with other agencies, with other governments, to investigate and eventually resolve a major international terrorist attack against Americans, said Dick Marquise, the retired FBI agent who initially led the Bureaus investigation and who still cares deeply about the case. The signatories considered that a UN inquiry could help remove "many of the deep misgivings which persist in lingering over this tragedy" and could also eliminate Malta from this terrorist act. [54] The Iranian foreign ministry swiftly denied any involvement. The wreckage from Pan Am Flight 103 that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland December 21, 1988. On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after takeoff from London.

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