Pan Am Flight 103
5409919
226084808
2008-07-16T19:30:49Z
74.2.240.162
/* Aircraft breakup */ de-linked fireball, went to a disambiguation page with no relevant links
{{redirect|PA 103|the [[state highway]]|Pennsylvania Route 103}}
{{Infobox Airliner accident
| name=Pan Am Flight 103
| Crash image=PA103cockpit4.png|Image caption= Nose section of ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'' (N739PA)
|
| Image caption=
| Date=[[21 December]] [[1988]]
| Type=[[Terrorist]] bombing
| Site=[[Lockerbie]], [[Scotland]]
| Origin=[[London Heathrow Airport]]|
| Destination=[[John F. Kennedy International Airport]]|
| Fatalities=270 (259 in aircraft, and including 11 on ground)
|
| Aircraft Type=[[Boeing 747#747-100|Boeing 747-121]]
| Operator=[[Pan American World Airways]]
| Tail Number={{airreg|N|739PA|disaster}}
| Ship name=''Clipper Maid of the Seas''
| Passengers=243
| Crew=16
| Survivors=0
}}
'''Pan Am Flight 103''' was [[Pan American World Airways|Pan American World Airways']] third daily scheduled [[transatlantic flight]] from London's [[Heathrow International Airport]] to New York's [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]]. On Wednesday [[21 December]] [[1988]], the aircraft flying this route—a [[Boeing 747#747-100|Boeing 747-121]] named '''Clipper Maid of the Seas'''—was destroyed by a [[bomb]]. The remains landed in and around the town of [[Lockerbie]] in southern [[Scotland]].
In the subsequent [[investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103|investigation of the crash]], forensic experts determined that about 1 lb (450 g) of [[plastic explosive]] had been detonated in the airplane's forward cargo hold, triggering a sequence of events that led to the rapid destruction of the aircraft. Winds of 100 [[knot (speed)|knots]] (190 km/h) scattered victims and debris along a 130 km <!-- Metric first. Source data is metric. --> (80 mile) corridor over an area of 2189 km² (845 square miles).
The death toll was 270 people from 21 countries, including 11 people in Lockerbie.<ref name="panamair_victims">{{cite web |date=2007 |url = http://www.panamair.org/accidents/lockerbievictims.htm|title = Clipper Maid of the Seas:REMEMBERING THOSE ON FLIGHT 103 |format = HTML |publisher = panamair.org| accessdate = 2008-06-08 | last= |quote=}}</ref>
== Criminal inquiry ==
Known as the '''Lockerbie bombing''' and the '''Lockerbie air disaster''' in the [[United Kingdom| UK]], it became the subject of Britain's largest criminal inquiry, led by its smallest police force, [[Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary]]. Since 189 of the victims were American, the bombing stood as the deadliest terrorist attack against the United States until the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].
[[Image:Megrahi2.jpg|right|thumb|[[Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi]]]]
After a three-year joint investigation by the Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the U.S. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], during which 15,000 witness statements were taken, indictments for murder were issued on [[November 13]], [[1991]], against [[Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi]], a [[Libya]]n intelligence officer and the head of security for [[Libyan Airways|Libyan Arab Airlines]] (LAA), and [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah]], the LAA station manager in [[Malta International Airport|Luqa Airport]], [[Malta]]. [[United Nations]] sanctions against Libya and protracted negotiations with the Libyan leader Colonel [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]] secured the handover of the accused on [[April 5]], [[1999]] to Scottish police at [[Camp Zeist, Netherlands]], chosen as a neutral venue.
On [[January 31]], [[2001]], Megrahi was convicted of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Fhimah was acquitted. Megrahi's appeal against his conviction was refused on [[March 14]], [[2002]], and his application to the [[European Court of Human Rights]] was declared inadmissible in July 2003. On [[September 23]], [[2003]], Megrahi applied to the [[Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission]] (SCCRC) for his conviction to be reviewed, and for his case to be referred back to the [[High Court of Justiciary|High Court]] for a fresh appeal. On [[June 28]], [[2007]], the SCCRC announced<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sccrc.org.uk/ViewFile.aspx?id=293SCCRC|title=Referral of Megrahi case for 2nd appeal}}</ref> its decision to refer the case to the [[Court of Criminal Appeal]] after it found he "''may have suffered a miscarriage of justice''".
Megrahi is serving his sentence in [[Greenock (HM Prison)|Greenock Prison]], where he continues to profess his innocence.
== Flight plan ==
'''Pan Am Flight 103''' was a [[Boeing 747|Boeing 747-100]] named ''Clipper Maid of the Seas''. The jumbo jet was the fifteenth [[Boeing 747|747]] ever built and was delivered in February 1970,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/panam103/stories/crash122288.htm|title=''The Washington Post''}}</ref> one month after the very first 747 had entered service with [[Pan Am]].
On Wednesday [[December 21]], [[1988]], ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'' touched down at London's Heathrow Airport at noon from [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]. The aircraft was parked at stand K-16, Terminal 3, was guarded for two hours by Pan Am's security company, Alert Security, but otherwise was not watched.
The first leg of Pan Am Flight 103's journey began as the [[Boeing 727]] feeder flight, PA103A, from [[Frankfurt International Airport]], [[West Germany]] to London Heathrow. Forty-seven of the 89 passengers on PA103A transferred at Heathrow to the [[Boeing 747]] flight PA103 which was scheduled to fly to New York JFK. A Boeing 727 would have been used on the final leg from JFK to [[Detroit]].
There were 243 passengers and 16 crew members on board, led by the [[aviator|pilot]] Captain James Bruce "Jim" MacQuarrie<ref>"[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010201/ai_n14364393 THE LOCKERBIE VERDICT: The Victims - Roll-call of the dead took an]," ''[[The Independent]]'', [[1 February]] [[2001]]</ref><ref name="DailyRecordDeath103">"[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-69786281.html DEATH OF FLIGHT 103; Delay meant a change to plane's route, 270 lives coming to a horrific end in Scotland and vital evidence falling on dry land.]," ''[[Daily Record]]''</ref><ref name="SyrUniMemoriam">"[http://archives.syr.edu/archives/panam/memoriam.html Memoriam]," ''[[Syracuse University]]''</ref>, First Officer Raymond Ronald "Ray" Wagner<ref>"[http://heritage.scotsman.com/disasterstrikes/Lockerbie-and-the-worst-Christmas.2781765.jp Lockerbie and the worst Christmas imaginable]," ''[[The Scotsman]]''</ref><ref name="DailyRecordDeath103"/><ref name="SyrUniMemoriam"/>, and Flight Engineer Jerry Don Avritt<ref name="DailyRecordDeath103"/><ref name="SyrUniMemoriam"/>. Mary Murphy served as the head [[purser]].<ref name="DailyRecordDeath103"/> The flight was scheduled to depart at 18:00, and pushed back from the gate at 18:04, but because of a rush-hour delay, it took off from runway 27L at 18:25, flying northwest out of Heathrow, a so-called [[Daventry]] departure. Once clear of Heathrow, the crew steered due north toward Scotland. At 18:56, as the aircraft approached the border, it reached its cruising altitude of 31,000 ft (9400 m), and MacQuarrie [[Aircraft engine controls|throttled]] the engines back to cruising power.
At 19:00, PA103 was picked up by the Scottish Area Control Centre at [[Prestwick]], Scotland, where it needed clearance to begin its flight across the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. Alan Topp, an [[air traffic controller]], made contact with the clipper as it entered Scottish [[airspace]].
Captain MacQuarrie replied: "Good evening Scottish, Clipper one zero three. We are at level three one zero." Then First Officer Wagner spoke: "Clipper 103 requesting oceanic clearance." Those were the last words heard from the aircraft.
== Explosion ==
{{Location map+|United Kingdom|width=200|caption=Pan Am 103 crash site|places=
{{Location map~|United Kingdom|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=55|lat_min=5.7|lat_sec=0|lon_deg=3|lon_min=20.3|lon_sec=0|caption=Pan Am 103 Crash site|label=Lockerbie|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=54|lat_min=45|lon_deg=3|lon_min=40|label=Solway Firth|position=left}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=51|lat_min=28|lat_sec=39|lon_deg=0|lon_min=27|lon_sec=41|label=London|position=left}}
}}
At 19:01, Topp watched Flight 103 approach the corner of the [[Solway Firth]], and at 19:02, it crossed its northern coast. On his scope, the aircraft showed [[transponder code]] or "squawk"—0357 and [[flight level]]—310.
<!-- Does anyone know what this number is? 68546.9 in original sequence 0357 310 68546.9 -->
When the airliner's transponder stopped replying, it was flying at 31,000 ft (9400 m) on a heading of 316 degrees magnetic, and at a speed of 313 knots (580 km/h) [[calibrated airspeed]], at 19:02:46.9. Subsequent analysis of the radar returns by [[RSRE]] concluded that the aircraft was tracking 321° (grid) and travelling at a ground speed of 434 knots (804 km/h).
At that moment, SSR contact with the aircraft was lost. Topp tried to make contact with Captain MacQuarrie, and asked a nearby [[KLM]] flight to do the same, but there was no reply. Where there should have been one radar return on his screen, there were four, and as the seconds passed, the returns began to fan out.<ref name="CoxandFoster">Cox, Matthew, and Foster, Tom. (1992) ''Their Darkest Day: The Tragedy of Pan Am 103'', ISBN 0-8021-1382-6</ref> Comparison of the cockpit voice recorder with the radar returns showed that 8 seconds after the explosion, wreckage had a 1-nautical mile (2 km) spread.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/dft_avsafety_pdf_503158.pdf|title=AAIB report on the accident to Boeing 747-121, N739PA at Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland on 21 December 1988}}</ref>
A minute later, the wing section containing 200,000 lb (91,000 kg) of fuel hit the ground at Sherwood Crescent, [[Lockerbie]]. The [[British Geological Survey]] at nearby [[Eskdalemuir Observatory|Eskdalemuir]] registered a [[Seismology|seismic]] event measuring 1.6 on the [[Richter scale]] as all trace of two families, several houses, and the 196 ft (60 m) wing of the aircraft disappeared. [[British Airways]] pilot Captain Robin Chamberlain, flying the Glasgow–London shuttle near [[Carlisle]], called Scottish to report that he could see a huge fire on the ground. The destruction of PA103 continued on Topp's screen, by now full of returns moving eastwards with the wind.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,2763,216917,00.html|title=''The Guardian''}}</ref>
== Aircraft breakup ==
[[Image:PA103 graphic 1.gif|right]]
[[Image:PA103 graphic 2.gif|right]]
[[Image:PA103 graphic 3.gif|right]]
The explosion punched a {{convert|20|in|m||adj=on}} wide hole, almost directly under the P in Pan Am, on the left side of the [[fuselage]]. The disintegration of the aircraft was rapid. Investigators from the [[Air Accidents Investigation Branch]] (AAIB) of the British [[Department of Transport]] concluded that the [[cockpit|nose]] of the aircraft separated from the main section within three seconds of the explosion.
The [[cockpit voice recorder]], a recording device in the tail section of the aircraft, was found in a field by police searchers within 24 hours of the bombing. There was no evidence of a [[distress signal|distress call]]: a 180-[[millisecond]] hissing noise could be heard as the explosion destroyed the aircraft's communications centre.
After being lowered into the cockpit in Lockerbie before it was moved, and while the bodies of the flight crew were still inside it, investigators from the U.S. [[Federal Aviation Administration]] (FAA) concluded that no emergency procedures had been started. The [[Cabin pressurization|pressure control]] and fuel switches were both set for [[cruise (flight)|cruise]], and the crew had not used their [[oxygen mask]]s, which would have descended within five seconds of a rapid depressurisation of the aircraft.<ref name="CoxandFoster"/>
The nerve centre of a 747, from which all the [[navigation]] and [[communication]] systems are controlled, is below the [[cockpit]], separated from the forward cargo hold by a bulkhead wall. Investigators concluded that the force of the explosion broke through this wall and shook the [[Aircraft flight control systems|flight-control cables]], causing the [[Boeing fuselage Section 41|front section of the fuselage]] to begin to [[Flight dynamics|roll, pitch, and yaw]].
These violent movements snapped the reinforcing belt that secured the front section to the row of windows on the left side and it began to break away. At the same time, [[shock wave]]s from the blast [[ricochet]]ed back from the fuselage skin in the direction of the bomb, meeting [[Pulsed power|pulses]] still coming from the initial explosion. This produced [[Mach wave|Mach stem]] shock waves, calculated to be 25% faster than, and double the [[Power (physics)|power]] of, the waves from the explosion itself.<ref name="CoxandFoster"/> These shock waves rebounded from one side of the aircraft to the other, running down the length of the fuselage through the [[HVAC|air-conditioning ducts]] and splitting the fuselage open.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/dft_avsafety_pdf_503157.pdf|title=AAIB website|format=PDF}}</ref> A section of the 747's roof several feet above the point of [[detonation]] peeled away. The Mach stem waves pulsing through the ductwork bounced off overhead [[luggage]] racks and other hard surfaces, jolting the passengers.
The power of the explosion was increased by the difference in [[atmospheric pressure|air pressure]] between the inside of the aircraft, where it was kept at breathable levels, and outside, where it was about a quarter of that at [[sea level]]. The nose of the aircraft, containing the flight crew and the [[first-class travel|first class]] section, broke away, striking the No. 3 [[Pratt & Whitney]] engine as it snapped off.
Investigators believe that within three seconds of the explosion, the cockpit, fuselage, and No. 3 engine were falling separately. The fuselage continued moving forward and down until it reached 19,000 ft (6000 m), at which point its dive became almost [[vertical direction|vertical]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19881221-0|title=Aviation Safety website}}</ref>
As it descended, the fuselage broke into smaller pieces, with the section attached to the wings landing first in Sherwood Crescent, where the [[aviation fuel]] inside the wings [[Ignition|ignited]], causing a fireball that destroyed several houses, and which was so intense that nothing remained of the left wing of the aircraft. Investigators were able to determine that both wings had landed in the [[impact crater|crater]] after counting the number of large [[steel]] flap drive [[Leadscrew|jackscrews]] that were found there.<ref name="CoxandFoster"/>
== Victims ==
===Passengers and crew===
All 243 passengers and 16 crew members were killed. A Scottish [[Fatal Accident Inquiry]], which opened on [[October 1]] [[1990]], heard that, when the cockpit broke off, tornado-force winds tore through the fuselage, tearing clothes off passengers and turning insecurely fixed items like food and drink trolleys into lethal objects. Because of the sudden change in air pressure, the gases inside the passengers' bodies would have expanded to four times their normal volume, causing their [[lung]]s to swell and then collapse. People and objects not fixed down would have been blown out of the aircraft into the −46 °C (−50 °F) outside air, their 31,000-ft (9400 m) fall lasting about two minutes.<ref name="CoxandFoster"/> Some passengers remained attached to the fuselage by their seat belts, landing in Lockerbie strapped to their seats.
Although the passengers would have lost [[consciousness]] through lack of [[oxygen]], forensic examiners believe some of them might have regained consciousness as they fell toward oxygen-rich lower [[altitude]]s. [[Forensic pathology|Forensic pathologist]] Dr. William G. Eckert, director of the Milton Helpern International Center of Forensic Sciences at [[Wichita State University]], who examined the [[autopsy]] evidence, told Scottish police he believed the [[aircrew member|flight crew]], some of the flight attendants, and 147 other passengers survived the bomb blast and depressurization of the aircraft, and may have been alive on impact. None of these passengers showed signs of injury from the explosion itself, or from the [[decompression]] and disintegration of the aircraft. The inquest heard that a mother was found holding her baby, two friends were holding hands, and a number of passengers were found clutching [[crucifix]]es.
Dr Eckert told Scottish police that distinctive marks on Captain MacQuarrie's thumb suggested he had been hanging onto the [[yoke (aircraft)|yoke]] of the plane as it descended, and may have been alive when the plane crashed. The captain, first officer, flight engineer, a [[flight attendant]], and a number of first-class passengers were found still strapped to their seats inside the nose section when it crashed in a field by a tiny church in the village of [[Tundergarth]]. The inquest heard that the flight attendant was alive when found by a farmer's wife, but died before her rescuer could summon help. A male passenger was also found alive, and medical authorities believe he might have survived had he been found earlier.<ref name="CoxandFoster"/> {{seealso|Free-fall#Surviving falls}}
====Nationalities====
<ref>[http://db.mipt.org/documents/Cases/91-CR-645_Indictment.pdf Court document against al-Megrahi]</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
|-bgcolor=ccccff
!rowspan=1|Nationality||colspan=1|Passengers||colspan=1|Crew||colspan=1|Total
|-bgcolor=ccccff
|-valign=top
|{{ARG}}||3||0||3
|-valign=top
|{{BEL}}||1||0||1
|-valign=top
|{{BOL}}||1||0||1
|-valign=top
|{{CAN}}||3||0||3
|-valign=top
|{{FRA}}||2||1||3
|-valign=top
|{{GER}}||3||1||4
|-valign=top
|{{flag|Hungary|1957}}||4||0||4
|-valign=top
|{{IND}}||3||0||3
|-valign=top
|{{IRL}}||3||0||3
|-valign=top
|{{ISR}}||1||0||1
|-valign=top
|{{ITA}}||2||0||2
|-valign=top
|{{JAM}}||1||0||1
|-valign=top
|{{JPN}}||1||0||1
|-valign=top
|{{PHI}}||1||0||1
|-valign=top
|{{ESP}}||0||1||1
|-valign=top
|{{flag|South Africa|1928}}||1||0||1
|-valign=top
|{{SWE}}||2||1||3
|-valign=top
|{{CHE}}||1||0||1
|-valign=top
|{{TRI}}||1||0||1
|-valign=top
|{{GBR}}||40||1||41
|-valign=top
|{{USA}}||169||11||180
|-valign=top
|'''Total'''||'''243'''||'''16'''||'''259'''
|}
===Students and families===
Thirty-five students from [[Syracuse University]], four from [[Colgate University]], and two from the [[State University of New York]] at [[Oswego]] were on board, flying home from overseas study in London. Ten of the victims were residents of [[Long Island]]—including father and son, John and Sean Mulroy—and were returning home for seasonal celebrations with families and friends, as reported by ''Newsday'' of [[December 27]], [[1988]]. Five members of the Dixit-Rattan family, including 3-year-old Suruchi Rattan, were flying to Detroit from [[New Delhi]]. They were supposed to be on PA67, which had left Frankfurt earlier in the day, but one of the children had fallen ill with breathing difficulties, and the pilot had taken the plane back to the gate to allow the family to disembark. The boy soon recovered, and the family was transferred to PA103 instead. Suruchi was wearing a bright red [[kurta]] and [[salwar kameez|salwar]]—a knee-length tunic and matching trousers—for her journey. She became associated with a note left with flowers outside Lockerbie town hall:
<blockquote>"To the little girl in the red dress who lies here who made my flight from Frankfurt such fun. You didn't deserve this. God Bless, ''Chas.''"</blockquote>
Paul Avron Jeffreys, former bass player with the UK group [[Cockney Rebel]], was on the flight with his new wife Rachel, en route to their honeymoon celebration. Jonathan White, aged 33, the son of actor [[David White (actor)|David White]] (Larry Tate on ''[[Bewitched]]'') was also killed on Pan Am Flight 103.
===American intelligence officers===
{{Refimprovesect|date=January 2008}}
There were at least four U.S. [[intelligence]] officers on the passenger list, with rumours, never confirmed, of a fifth. The presence of these men on the flight later gave rise to a number of [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]], in which one or more of them were said to have been the bombers' targets. [[Matthew Gannon]], the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA's]] deputy station chief in [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]], was sitting in Clipper Class seat 14J. Major Chuck "Tiny" McKee,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.syr.edu/~vpaf103/v_lackey.html|title=VPAF103 (American families') website}}</ref> a senior army officer on secondment to the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] (DIA) in [[Beirut]], sat behind Gannon in the center aisle in seat 15F. Two Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents, believed{{who}} to be acting as bodyguards to Gannon and McKee, were sitting in economy: Ronald Lariviere, a security officer from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, was in 20H, and Daniel O'Connor, a security officer from the U.S. Embassy in [[Nicosia]], [[Cyprus]], sat five rows behind Lariviere in 25H, both men seated over the right wing.
The four men had flown together out of Cyprus that morning. Major McKee is believed{{Who}} to have been in Beirut trying to locate the American hostages held at that time by [[Hezbollah]]. After the bombing, sources close to the investigation told journalists that a map had been found in Lockerbie showing the suspected locations of the hostages, as marked by McKee{{Fact|date=December 2007}}, though this discovery was not confirmed in court.
Also on board, in seat 53K at the back of the plane, was 21-year-old Khalid Nazir Jaafar, who had moved from [[Lebanon]] to Detroit with his family, where his father ran a successful auto-repair business. Because of his Lebanese background, and because he was returning from having visited relatives there, Jaafar's name later figured prominently in the investigation into the bombing, as well as in a number of [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] that developed.
=== Lockerbie residents ===
On the ground, 11 Lockerbie residents were killed when the wing section hit 13 Sherwood Crescent at more than {{convert|500|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}} and exploded, creating a crater 47 metres (155 ft) long and with a volume of 560 m³ (730 yd³),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/dft_avsafety_pdf_503158.pdf|title=AAIB website|format=PDF}}</ref> vaporising several houses and their foundations, and damaging 21 others so badly they had to be demolished. Four members of one family, Jack and Rosalind Somerville and their children Paul and Lynsey, died when their house at 15 Sherwood Crescent exploded. A fireball rose above the houses and moved toward the nearby [[Glasgow]]–[[Carlisle]] [[A74 road|A74]] main road, scorching cars in the southbound lanes, leading motorists and local residents to believe that there had been a [[meltdown]] at the nearby [[Chapelcross nuclear power station]]. The only house left standing intact in the area belonged to Father Patrick Keegans, Lockerbie's [[Roman Catholic]] [[priest]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/12/98/lockerbie/236023.stm|title=Lockerbie: BBC news report}}</ref>
For many days, Lockerbie residents lived with the sight of bodies in their gardens and in the streets, as forensic workers photographed and tagged the location of each body to help determine the exact position and force of the on-board explosion, by coordinating information about each passenger's assigned seat, type of injury, and where they had landed. Local resident Bunty Galloway told authors Geraldine Sheridan and Thomas Kenning (1993):
<blockquote>"A boy was lying at the bottom of the steps on to the road. A young [[boy|laddie]] with brown socks and blue trousers on. Later that evening my son-in-law asked for a blanket to cover him. I didn't know he was dead. I gave him a [[domestic sheep|lamb]]'s [[wool]] travelling rug thinking I'd keep him warm. Two more girls were lying dead across the road, one of them bent over garden railings. It was just as though they were sleeping. The boy lay at the bottom of my stairs for days. Every time I came back to my house for clothes he was still there. 'My boy is still there,' I used to tell the waiting policeman. Eventually on Saturday I couldn't take it no more. 'You got to get my boy lifted,' I told the policeman. That night he was moved."</blockquote>
Despite being advised by their governments not to travel to Lockerbie, many of the passengers' relatives, most of them from the U.S., arrived there within days to identify their loved ones. Volunteers from Lockerbie set up and manned canteens, which stayed open 24 hours a day, where relatives, [[British Army|soldiers]], [[British police|police officers]] and [[social worker]]s could find free [[sandwich]]es, hot meals, [[coffee]], and someone to talk to. The people of the town washed, dried, and ironed every piece of clothing that was found, once the police had determined they were of no [[Forensics|forensic]] value, so that as many items as possible could be returned to the relatives. The [[BBC]]'s Scottish correspondent, Andrew Cassel, reported on the tenth [[anniversary]] of the bombing that the townspeople had "opened their homes and hearts" to the relatives, bearing their own losses "[[Stoicism|stoically]] and with enormous [[dignity]]", and that the bonds forged then continue to this day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/12/98/lockerbie/236466.stm|title=BBC news}}</ref></blockquote>
== Helsinki warning ==
[[Image:CIAPA103D.jpg|thumb|left|A declassified [[CIA]] document referring to the Helsinki warning]]
On [[December 5]], [[1988]] the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] (FAA) issued a security bulletin saying that on that day a man with an [[Arabic]] accent had telephoned the U.S. Embassy in [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]], and had 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 [[Fatah - the Revolutionary Council|Abu Nidal Organization]]. He said a Finnish woman would carry the bomb on board as an unwitting courier.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
The anonymous warning was taken seriously by the U.S. government. The [[State Department]] cabled the bulletin to dozens of embassies. The FAA sent it to all U.S. carriers, including Pan Am, which had charged each of the passengers a five-dollar security surcharge, promising a "program that will screen passengers, employees, airport facilities, baggage and aircraft with unrelenting thoroughness" (''The Independent'', [[March 29]], [[1990]]); the security team in Frankfurt found the warning hidden under a pile of papers on a desk the day after the bombing.<ref name="CoxandFoster"/> One of the Frankfurt security screeners, whose job it was to spot explosive devices under X-ray, told [[ABC News]] that she had first learned what [[Semtex]] (a [[plastic explosive]]) was during ABC's interview with her 11 months after the bombing (''Prime Time Live'', November 1989).
On [[December 13]], the warning was posted on bulletin boards in the U.S. Embassy in [[Moscow]], and eventually distributed to the entire American community there, including journalists and businessmen. As a result, a number of people allegedly booked on carriers other than Pan Am, leaving empty seats on PA103 that were later sold cheaply in "bucket shops". PA103 investigators subsequently said the telephone warning had been a [[hoax]] and a chilling [[coincidence]].
[[Image:CIAPA103C.jpg|center]]
== Flight reservations ==
After the bombing, a number of stories emerged of people with reservations on PA103 who missed the flight. Some of them include:
*American musical quartet [[The Four Tops]] were returning to the States for [[Christmas]], but were late getting out of a recording session. Angry at being too late to catch the flight, they were arguing about it when they heard it had exploded (''[[ABC News]]'' ''Prime Time Live'', [[November 30]], [[1989]]);
*[[Sex Pistols]] band member [[John Lydon]] and his wife, Nora, also had a narrow escape. "Nora and I should have been dead," he told the ''Scottish [[Sunday Mirror]]''. "We only missed the flight because Nora hadn't packed in time. The minute we realized what happened, we just looked at each other and almost collapsed."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,2763,1154000,00.html|title=''The Guardian''}}</ref>
*[[Anne Applebaum]] was booked on the flight. However, a week before take-off, she postponed her journey by a day in order to visit Oxford<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anneapplebaum.com/other/1998/12_20_tel_lockerbie.html|title=www.anneapplebaum.com/other/1998/12_20_tel_lockerbie.html<!--INSERT TITLE-->}}</ref>
*[[Kim Cattrall]] was supposed to be on this flight, but changed it in order to buy a Christmas present for her mother, she later flew back to New York on [[TWA]].
*Jaswant Basuta, an American of Indian descent, got drunk in the passenger lounge after checking in, and sprinted to the gate to find the aircraft's doors had just been closed. He pleaded for the doors to be re-opened, but Pan Am duty manager Christopher Price refused. Just over an hour later, two police officers arrived in the passenger lounge to tell Basuta the flight was down and that he was a suspect, because his suitcase had been on the plane but he had not — a breach by the airline of [[Federal Aviation Administration]] (FAA) rules, which insist that the [[checked baggage]] of any passenger who failed to board be removed from the aircraft's hold.<ref>[http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=988602007 The night death rained down from the skies]</ref> While he was being questioned, his wife, Surinder, who believed he was on the flight, made a promise to the image of a [[Sikh]] [[Sikh Guru|Guru]] on the clock in the kitchen at home that she would hire [[priest]]s to perform a special 48-hour [[prayer]] session if her husband survived. On a Friday morning two months later, she and her husband Jaswant went to a Sikh [[gurdwara|temple]] in [[New York]], and with the priests she had invited prayed from 10:00 a.m. on Friday until 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. "On one side of the door was death," Surinder told authors Matthew Cox and Tom Foster, "on the other, life. It's like someone pulled him back".<ref name="CoxandFoster"/>
*Lynne Rutter, a [[muralist]] from San Francisco, narrowly missed the flight having spent the previous night partying in London at a friend's wedding. She took a flight on another airline that left only 45 minutes later, and like the rest of the passengers on that flight, was not informed of the disaster until she had cleared customs in San Francisco.
*Geoffrey Cline, a government contractor whose conference finished a few days earlier than expected and switched to an earlier flight
Others known or rumoured to have cancelled reservations on PA103 include:
*[[Pik Botha]] (former [[South Africa]]n foreign minister), who was travelling to [[UN headquarters]] to sign the [[New York Accords]] which granted independence to [[Namibia]]; ([[Bernt Carlsson]], the [[UN Commissioner for Namibia]], who was travelling to the same ceremony, died on board the flight<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.syr.edu/~vpaf103/v_carlsson.html|title=VPAF103 article on Bernt Carlsson}}</ref>);
*John McCarthy, then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon;
*Chris Revell, the son of Oliver "Buck" Revell, then executive assistant director of the [[CIA]]; and,
*Steven Greene, assistant administrator in the Office of Intelligence of the U.S. [[Drug Enforcement Administration]].
== Claims of responsibility ==
According to a [[CIA]] analysis dated [[December 22]], [[1988]], several groups were quick to claim responsibility in telephone calls in the United States and Europe:
<blockquote>
* A male caller claimed that a group called the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution had destroyed the plane in retaliation for the U.S. shootdown of an [[Iran Air Flight 655|Iranian passenger airliner]] the previous July.
* A caller claiming to represent the [[Islamic Jihad]] organization told ABC News in New York that the group had planted the bomb to commemorate Christmas.
* The Ulster Defense League allegedly issued a telephonic claim.
* Another anonymous caller claimed the plane had been downed by [[Mossad]], the Israeli Intelligence service.
</blockquote>
After finishing this list, the author stated, "We consider the claims from the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution as the most credible one received so far". The analysis concluded, "We cannot assign responsibility for this tragedy to any terrorist group at this time. We anticipate that, as often happens, many groups will seek to claim credit".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foia.cia.gov/docs/DOC_0000427163/0000427163_0002.gif|title=CIA document}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foia.cia.gov/docs/DOC_0000427163/0000427163_0003.gif|title=CIA document}}</ref>
== Investigation ==
{{see|Investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103}}
The initial investigation into the crash site by [[Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary|Dumfries and Galloway police]] involved military and civilian helicopter surveys, satellite imaging, and a fingertip search of the area by police and soldiers. More than 10,000 pieces of debris were retrieved, tagged and entered into a computer tracking system.
The fuselage of the aircraft was reconstructed by air accident investigators, revealing a {{convert|20|in|mm|sing=on}} hole consistent with an explosion in the forward cargo hold. Examination of the baggage containers revealed that the container nearest the hole had blackening, pitting, and severe damage indicating a "high-energy event" had taken place inside it. A series of test explosions were carried out to confirm the precise location and quantity of explosive used.
[[Image:PAMegrahiGauci.jpg|thumb|It was this photograph of [[Megrahi]], taken in the 1980s, that [[Tony Gauci]] identified as the man who had bought the clothes.]]
Fragments of a [[Samsonite]] suitcase believed to have contained the bomb were recovered, together with parts and pieces of circuit board identified as part of a [[Toshiba]] Bombeat radio cassette player, similar to that used to conceal a [[Semtex]] bomb seized by West German police from the Palestinian militant group [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command]] two months earlier. Items of baby clothing, which were subsequently proven to have been made in Malta, were also thought to have come from the same suitcase.
The clothes were traced to a [[Malta|Maltese]] merchant, [[Tony Gauci]], who became a key prosecution witness, testifying that he sold the clothes to a man of [[Libya]]n appearance, whom he later identified as [[Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi|Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi]]. Tony Gauci's testimony was discredited in 2007, however, by an official report providing information not available during the original trial, that Gauci had seen a picture of al-Megrahi in a magazine which connected al-Megrahi to the bombing, a fact which could have distorted his judgement.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/world/europe/29lockerbie.html Official report discredits Tony Gauci's testimony]</ref>
A circuit board fragment, allegedly found embedded in a piece of charred material, was identified as part of an electronic timer similar to that found on a Libyan intelligence agent who had been arrested 10 months previously, carrying materials for a Semtex bomb. The timer allegedly was traced through its Swiss manufacturer, [[Mebo]], to the Libyan military, and Mebo employee [[Ulrich Lumpert]] identified the fragment at [[Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial|al-Megrahi's trial]]. On [[July 18]], [[2007]], however, Lumpert admitted he had lied at the trial.<ref>[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2160655,00.html Vital Lockerbie evidence 'was tampered with']</ref> In a sworn [[affidavit]] before a [[Zurich]] [[Notary public|notary]], Lumpert stated that he had stolen a [[prototype]] MST-13 timer [[printed circuit board|PC-board]] from Mebo and gave it without permission on [[June 22]], [[1989]], to "an official person investigating the Lockerbie case".<ref>[http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1664337.0.0.php Probe into Lockerbie timer claims]</ref> Dr [[Hans Köchler]], UN observer at the Lockerbie trial, who was sent a copy of Lumpert's affidavit, said: "The Scottish authorities are now obliged to investigate this situation. Not only has Mr Lumpert admitted to stealing a sample of the timer, but to the fact he gave it to an official and then lied in court".
Investigators also discovered that an unaccompanied bag had been routed onto PA 103, via the interline baggage system, from Luqa airport on Air Malta flight KM180 to [[Frankfurt International Airport|Frankfurt]], and then by feeder flight PA 103A to [[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow]]. This unaccompanied bag was shown at the trial to have been the suitcase that contained the bomb.
== Trial and appeals ==
{{see|Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial}}
On [[May 3]], [[2000]], the trial of the two Libyans, [[Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi]] and [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah]], accused of the 1988 PA103 bombing, began. Megrahi was convicted of murder on [[January 31]], [[2001]], and was sentenced to life imprisonment. His co-accused, Fhimah, was found [[not guilty]].<ref>[http://i-p-o.org/Lockerbie_Verdict-31Jan2001.htm Fhimah was found "not guilty"]</ref> Megrahi's appeal against conviction was rejected on [[March 14]], [[2002]].
On [[September 23]], [[2003]] Megrahi's lawyers applied to the [[Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission]] (SCCRC) to have his case referred back to the [[Court of Criminal Appeal]] for a fresh appeal against conviction. The application to the SCCRC followed the publication of two reports in February 2001 and March 2002 by [[Hans Köchler]], who had been an international observer at [[Camp Zeist, Netherlands]] appointed by the Secretary-General of the [[United Nations]]. Köchler described the decisions of the trial and appeal courts as a "spectacular miscarriage of justice".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1872996.stm|title=BBC news}}</ref> Köchler also issued a series of statements in 2003, 2005, and 2007 calling for an independent international inquiry into the case and accusing the West of "double standards in criminal justice" in relation to the [[Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial|Lockerbie trial]] on the one hand and the [[HIV trial in Libya]] on the other.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://i-p-o.org/koechler-lockerbie-statement-aug2003.htm|title=Dr Hans Köchler's statement, August 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://i-p-o.org/nr-lockerbie-14Oct05.htm|title=Dr Hans Köchler's statement, October 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://i-p-o.org/Koechler-EU-Lockerbie-Bulgaria-14Feb07.pdf|title=Double standards in criminal justice: Pan Am Flight 103 v. HIV trial in Libya|format=PDF}}</ref>
On [[June 28]], [[2007]] the SCCRC announced its decision to refer Megrahi's case to the High Court for a second appeal against conviction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sccrc.org.uk/ViewFile.aspx?id=293|title=SCCRC refers Megrahi's case for second appeal}}</ref> The SCCRC's decision was based on facts set out in an 800-page report that determined that "a [[miscarriage of justice]] may have occurred".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/world/europe/29lockerbie.html|title=SCCRC decides "a miscarriage of justice may have occurred"}}</ref> Köchler criticised the SCCRC for exonerating police, prosecutors and forensic staff from blame in respect of Megrahi's alleged wrongful conviction. He told ''[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]'' of [[June 29]], [[2007]]:
:"No officials to be blamed, simply a Maltese shopkeeper."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://i-p-o.org/koechler-lockerbie-referral-29June2007.htm|title=Statement by Dr Hans Köchler on SCCRC decision, 29 June 2007}}</ref>
The second appeal will be heard by five judges in 2008 at the [[Court of Criminal Appeal]]. A procedural hearing at the Appeal Court in [[Edinburgh]] took place on [[October 11]], [[2007]] when prosecution and defence lawyers discussed a number of legal issues with a panel of three judges.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/scotland/7037821.stm Lockerbie bomber in fresh appeal]</ref> One of the issues concerned a number of documents that were shown before the trial to the prosecution, but were not disclosed to the defence. The documents are understood to relate to the [[Mebo]] MST-13 timer that allegedly detonated the PA103 bomb.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7023397.stm|title='Secret' Lockerbie report claim}}</ref> Megrahi's lawyers are also asking for documents relating to an alleged payment of $2 million made to Maltese merchant, [[Tony Gauci]], for his testimony at the trial, which led to the conviction of Megrahi.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,,2182343,00.html Fresh doubts on Lockerbie conviction] ''[[The Guardian]]'' [[October 3]], [[2007]]</ref>
==Alleged motive ==
[[Image:Ly-map.png|right|thumb|Gulf of Sidra—Libya's "territorial waters"]]
Libya has never formally admitted carrying out the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. In a letter to the [[United Nations]] it "accepted responsibility for the actions of its officials".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/sc7868.doc.htm|title=Security Council lifts sanctions imposed on Libya after terrorist bombings of Pan Am 103 and UTA 772}}</ref>
The motive that is generally attributed to Libya can be traced back to a series of military confrontations with the [[US Navy]] that took place in the 1980s in the [[Gulf of Sidra]], the whole of which Libya claimed as its territorial waters. First, there was the [[Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)]] when two Libyan fighter aircraft were shot down. Then, [[Radio North Sea International#Destination Libya|two Libyan radio ships]] were sunk in the Gulf of Sidra. Later, on [[March 23]], [[1986]] a Libyan Navy patrol boat was sunk in the Gulf of Sidra,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/32486b.htm|title=Press statement by Larry Speakes, 24 March 1986}}</ref> followed by the sinking of another Libyan vessel on [[March 25]], [[1986]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1079/is_v86/ai_4323912|title=Libyan craft fired upon, 25 March 1986}}</ref> The Libyan leader, [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]], was accused of retaliating to these sinkings by ordering [[1986 Berlin discotheque bombing|the bombing of West Berlin nightclub, La Belle]], that was frequented by U.S. soldiers and which killed three and injured 230.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1653848.stm|title=BBC report of La Belle bombing}}</ref>
The [[CIA]]'s alleged interception of an incriminatory message from Libya to its embassy in [[East Berlin]] provided U.S. president [[Ronald Reagan]] with the justification for [[USAF]] warplanes to launch [[Operation El Dorado Canyon]] on [[April 15]], [[1986]] from British bases<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/el_dorado_canyon.htm|title=USAF bombing of Libya, 1986}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/15/newsid_3975000/3975455.stm|title=BBC news}}</ref>—the first U.S. military strikes from Britain since [[World War II]]—against [[Tripoli]] and [[Benghazi]], [[Libya]]. Among dozens of Libyan military and civilian casualties, the air strikes killed Hanna Gaddafi, a baby girl Gaddafi said he adopted. To avenge his daughter's death, Gaddafi is said to have sponsored the September 1986 hijacking of [[Pan Am Flight 73]] in [[Karachi]], [[Pakistan]].<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1052614.ece Revealed: Gaddafi's air massacre plot]</ref>
== Compensation from Libya ==
On [[May 29]], [[2002]], Libya offered up to US$2.7 billion to settle claims by the families of the 270 killed in the Lockerbie bombing, representing US$10 million per family. The Libyan offer was that:
* 40% of the money would be released when United Nations sanctions, suspended in 1999, were cancelled;
* another 40% when U.S. trade sanctions were lifted; and
* the final 20% when the U.S. State Department removed Libya from its list of states sponsoring terrorism.
Jim Kreindler of New York law firm, Kreindler & Kreindler, which orchestrated the settlement, said:
<blockquote>"These are uncharted waters. It is the first time that any of the states designated as sponsors of terrorism have offered compensation to families of terror victims."</blockquote>
The U.S. State Department maintained that it was not directly involved. "Some families want cash, others say it is blood money," said a State Department official.
Compensation for the families of the PA103 victims was among the steps set by the UN for lifting its sanctions against Libya. Other requirements included a formal denunciation of terrorism—which Libya said it had already made—and "accepting responsibility for the actions of its officials".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/sc7868.doc.htm|title=Security Council lifts sanctions imposed on Libya after terrorist bombings of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/05/28/libya.lockerbie.settlement|title=CNN archives}}</ref>
Over 18 months later, on [[December 5]], [[2003]], Jim Kreindler revealed that his [[Park Avenue (Manhattan)|Park Avenue]] law firm would receive an initial contingency fee of around US$1 million from each of the 128 American families Kreindler represents. The firm's fees could exceed US$300 million eventually. But Kreindler argued:
<blockquote>"Over the past seven years we have had a dedicated team working tirelessly on this and we deserve the contingency fee we have worked so hard for, and I think we have provided the relatives with value for money."</blockquote>
Another top legal firm in the U.S., Speiser Krause, which represented 60 relatives, of whom half were UK families, was understood to have concluded contingency deals securing them fees of between 28 and 35% of individual settlements. Frank Granito of Speiser Krause commented:
<blockquote>"Sure the rewards in the U.S. are more substantial than anywhere else in the world but nobody has questioned the fee whilst the work has been going on, it is only now as we approach a resolution when the criticism comes your way."</blockquote>
On [[August 15]], [[2003]], Libya's UN ambassador, Ahmed Own, submitted a letter to the UN [[Security Council]] formally accepting "responsibility for the actions of its officials" in relation to the Lockerbie bombing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.libya1.com/news/n2003/august/n16aug3a.htm|title=Libyan government website}}</ref> The Libyan government then proceeded to pay compensation to each family of US$8 million (from which legal fees of about US$2.5 million were deducted) and, as a result, the UN cancelled the sanctions that had been suspended four years earlier, and U.S. trade sanctions were lifted. A further US$2 million would have gone to each family had the U.S. [[State Department]] removed Libya from its list of states regarded as supporting international terrorism, but as this did not happen by the deadline set by Libya, the Libyan Central Bank withdrew the remaining US$540 million in April 2005 from the [[escrow]] account in [[Switzerland]] through which the earlier US$2.16 billion compensation for the victims' families had been paid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=184&id=1338372003|title=''The Scotsman''}}</ref> The United States announced resumption of full diplomatic relations with Libya after deciding to remove it from its list of countries that support terrorism on [[May 15]], [[2006]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4773617.stm|title=BBC news}}</ref>
Libya's acceptance of responsibility may have amounted to a business deal aimed at having the sanctions overturned, rather than an admission of guilt. On [[February 24]], [[2004]], Libyan Prime Minister [[Shukri Ghanem]] stated in a [[BBC]] Radio 4 interview that his country had paid the compensation as the "price for peace" and to secure the lifting of sanctions. Asked if Libya did not accept guilt, he said, "I agree with that." He also said there was no evidence to link Libya with the April 1984 shooting of police officer [[Yvonne Fletcher]] outside the Libyan Embassy in London. Gaddafi later retracted Ghanem's comments, under pressure from [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] and [[London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ztuesday_20040224.shtml|title=BBC Radio 4, [[February 24]], [[2004]]}}</ref>
A civil action against Libya continues on behalf of Pan Am, which went [[bankruptcy|bankrupt]] partly as a result of the attack. The airline is seeking $4.5 billion for the loss of the aircraft and the effect on the airline's business.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/3410/3410lect06.htm|title=Case Studies of Domestic Terrorism}}</ref>
In the wake of the SCCRC's June 2007 decision, there have been suggestions that, if Megrahi's second appeal is successful and his conviction is overturned, Libya could seek to recover the $2.16 billion compensation paid to the relatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=184&id=1007912007|title=Libyans want their £1.4bn payout back}}</ref> Interviewed by French newspaper ''[[Le Figaro]]'' on [[December 7]], [[2007]], [[Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi|Saif al-Gaddafi]] said that the seven Libyans convicted for the Pan Am Flight 103 and the [[UTA Flight 772]] bombings "are innocent". When asked if Libya would therefore seek reimbursement of the compensation paid to the families of the victims ([[USD|$]]2.33 billion in total), Saif al-Gaddafi replied: "I don't know".<ref>{{fr}} [http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2007/12/07/01003-20071207ARTFIG00487-seif-el-islam-kadhafi-la-libye-sera-un-pays-heureux.php Saif al-Gaddafi says "Libyans are innocent" of the Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 bombings] ''[[Le Figaro]]'' [[December 7]], [[2007]]</ref>
Following discussions in [[London]] in May 2008, US and Libyan officials agreed to start negotiations to resolve all outstanding bilateral compensation claims including those relating to [[UTA Flight 772]], the [[1986 Berlin discotheque bombing]] and Pan Am Flight 103.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7428901.stm|title=Libya to resolve claims with US}}</ref>
== Alternative theories ==
{{main|Alternative theories of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103}}
Controversial material presented in the article includes:
* [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#Reopening the case|Rationale for reopening the case]]
* [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#The framing of Libya|"Framing" of Libya]]
* [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#Seven alternative theories|Seven alternative theories]]
** [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#CIA in Lockerbie|CIA in Lockerbie]]
** [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#Iran, the PFLP-GC, and operation Autumn Leaves|Iran, the PFLP-GC, and operation Autumn Leaves]]
** [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#Iran and the London angle|Iran and the London angle]]
** [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#Libya and Abu Nidal|Libya and Abu Nidal]]
** [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#CIA-protected suitcase theory|CIA-protected suitcase theory]]
** [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#Radio detonation|Radio detonation]]
** [[Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#South-West Africa (Namibia)|South Africa luggage swap theory]]
===Haseldine petition===
In October 2007, former British diplomat [[Patrick Haseldine]] submitted an e-petition to prime minister [[Gordon Brown]], putting forward his [[conspiracy theory]] that [[apartheid]] [[South Africa]] was responsible for the bombing. However, the petition did not secure the minimum 200 votes required for a response.<ref>[http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/UNInquiry/ Petition to: support calls for a United Nations Inquiry into the death of UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
== Epilogue from the President's Commission ==
On [[September 29]], [[1989]], President Bush appointed Ann McLaughlin Korologos, former Secretary of Labor, as chair of 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. Mrs Korologos and the PCAST team (Senator [[Alfonse D'Amato]], Senator [[Frank Lautenberg]], Representative [[John Paul Hammerschmidt]], Representative [[James Oberstar]], General Thomas Richards, deputy commander of U.S. forces in West Germany, and Edward Hidalgo, former Secretary of the U.S. Navy) submitted their report, with its 64 recommendations, on [[May 15]], [[1990]]. The PCAST chairman also handed a sealed envelope to the President which was widely believed to apportion blame for the PA103 bombing. Extensively covered in ''The Guardian'' the next day, the PCAST report concluded:
:"National will and the moral courage to exercise it are the ultimate means of defeating terrorism. The Commission recommends a more vigorous policy that not only pursues and punishes terrorists, but also makes state sponsors of terrorism pay a price for their actions."
Before submitting their report, the PCAST members met a group of British PA103 relatives at the U.S. embassy in London on [[February 12]], [[1990]]. Twelve years later, on [[July 11]], [[2002]], Scottish M.P. [[Tam Dalyell]] reminded the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] of a controversial statement made at that 1990 embassy meeting by a PCAST member to one of the British relatives, Martin Cadman:
<blockquote>"Your government and ours know exactly what happened. But they're never going to tell."</blockquote>
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 [[July 29]], [[1995]], and a special report from ''[[Private Eye]]'' magazine entitled ''Lockerbie, the flight from justice'' May/June 2001. Dalyell asserted in Parliament that the statement had never been refuted.
== Memorials ==
[[Image:Lockerbie disaster memorial.jpg|thumb|Memorial at Dryfesdale Cemetery]]
[[Image:Syracuse University Flight 103 Memorial.jpg|thumb|[[Syracuse University]]'s memorial]]
There are a number of private and public memorials to the PA103 victims. ''Dark Elegy'' is the work of sculptor Susan Lowenstein of Long Island, whose son Alexander, then 21, was a passenger on the flight. The work consists of 43 nude statues of the wives and mothers who lost a husband or a child. Inside each sculpture there is a personal memento of the victim.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.syr.edu/%7Evpaf103/mem_elergy.htm|title=VPAF103 website}}</ref>
U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]] dedicated a Memorial Cairn to the victims at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] on [[November 3]], [[1995]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/cairn.htm|title=Arlington national cemetery}}</ref> and there are similar memorials at [[Syracuse University]]; Dryfesdale Cemetery, near Lockerbie; and in Sherwood Crescent, Lockerbie.
Syracuse University holds a memorial week every year called "Remembrance Week" to commemorate its 35 lost students. Every [[December 21]], a service is held in the university's chapel at 2:03 p.m. (19:03 UTC), marking the moment the aircraft exploded. The university also awards university tuition fees to two students from Lockerbie Academy each year, in the form of its Lockerbie scholarship. In addition, the university annually awards 35 scholarships to seniors to honor each of the 35 students killed. The ''[http://undergraduatestudies.syr.edu/Remembrance Remembrance Scholarships]'' are among the highest honors a Syracuse undergraduate can receive. SUNY Oswego also gives out scholarships in memorial of Colleen Brunner to a student who is studying abroad. A local sorority at SUNY Oswego also gives out an award every spring to a Junior who best represents the way Colleen was because she is a sister of Alpha Sigma Chi. Hamburg High School, her alma mater, also gives out a scholarship to a deserving senior.
The main UK memorial is at Dryfesdale Cemetery about a mile west of Lockerbie. There is a semicircular stone wall in the garden of remembrance with the names and nationalities of all the victims along with individual funeral stones and memorials. Inside the chapel at Dryfesdale there is a book of remembrance. There are memorials in [[Lockerbie]] and [[Moffat]] [[Roman Catholic]] churches, where plaques list the names of all 270 victims. In Lockerbie Town Hall Council Chambers, there is a stained-glass window depicting flags of the 21 different countries whose citizens lost their lives in the disaster. There is also a book of remembrance at Lockerbie public library and another at Tundergarth Church.
== Depictions in media ==
A [[Docudrama|drama-documentary]] made by [[Granada Television]] for the [[United Kingdom]] [[ITV]] network, ''Why Lockerbie?'', depicts the events leading to the bombing, and was first screened on November 26 1990. It was screened in the United States by [[HBO]] on December 9 1990 as ''The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100808/|title=made-for-TV movie}}</ref>
Aftermath depicted in the [[stage play]] ''The Women of Lockerbie'' by Deborah Brevoort was awarded the silver medal in the Onassis International Playwriting Competition in 2001.
The plane wreckage appears in the montage-painting "''View from the Hill''" by [[Mark Wilkinson]] featured in the gatefold sleeve of [[Fish (singer)|Fish]]'s first solo album ''[[Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors]]''.
It was announced in March 2007 that a movie based on the novel ''[[The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky]]'' by [[Ken Dornstein]] based on the events of the bombing will be produced.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinematical.com/2007/03/28/warner-bros-moves-forward-with-pan-am-flight-103-movie/|title=proposed Warner Bros movie}}</ref>
[[Hip-hop]] artist [[GZA]] makes reference to the event in the song "Gold" off of his [[1995 in music|1995]] solo release ''[[Liquid Swords]]''.
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
{{Wikinewspar|Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to review Pan Am Flight 103 conviction}}
== See also ==
* [[Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870]]
* [[Air India Flight 182]]
* [[Alternative theories of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103]]
* [[Investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103]]
* [[Iran Air Flight 655]]
* [[Korean Air Flight 858]]
* [[List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners]]
* [[List of terrorist incidents]]
* [[Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial]]
* [[Hans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer mission]]
* [[Pan Am Flight 73]]
* [[UTA Flight 772]]
==Sources==
<div class="references-small">
* Emerson, Steven, and Duffy, Brian. (1990) ''The Fall of Pan Am 103: Inside the Lockerbie Investigation'', ISBN 0-399-13521-9
* Cox, Matthew, and Foster, Tom. (1992) ''Their Darkest Day: The Tragedy of Pan Am 103'', ISBN 0-8021-1382-6
* Johnstone, David. (1989) ''Lockerbie: The True Story''
* Sheridan, Geraldine, and Kenning, Thomas. (1993) ''Survivors: Lockerbie'', Pan Books, ISBN 0-330-32853-0
* Goddard, Donald, and Coleman, Lester. (1993) ''Trail of the Octopus'', ISBN 0-451-18184-0
* Ashton, John, and Ferguson, Ian. (2001) ''Cover-up of Convenience: The Hidden Scandal of Lockerbie'', ISBN 1-84018-389-6
* Brown, David A., "Investigators Expand Search for Debris From Bombed 747", ''Aviation Week and Space Technology'', vol. 130, no. 25, pp 26–27, [[January 9]] [[1989]]
* Shifrin, Carole A., "British Issue Report on Flight 103, Urge Study on Reducing Effects of Explosions", ''Aviation Week and Space Technology'', vol. 133, no. 12, pp 128–129, [[September 7]] [[1990]]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/world/europe/29lockerbie.html Scottish Panel Challenges Lockerbie Conviction] New York Times, 29 November 2007
* [http://hjem.get2net.dk/safsaf/indictscot.html The Scottish indictment against Megrahi and Fhimah], November 13, 1991, retrieved [[February 27]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/TheIndictment.html The U.S. indictment against Megrahi and Fhimah], [[November 13]] [[1991]], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/TheJudges.html The Scottish judges], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/LockerbieVerdict.html The verdict against Megrahi and Fhimah], issued [[January 31]] [[2001]], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/dft_avsafety_pdf_503158.pdf "No:2/9—Boeing 747-121, N739PA, at Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland"], Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report, retrieved [[February 27]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/dft_avsafety_pdf_503156.pdf The position of the bomb], AAIB report, Appendix F (pdf), retrieved [[February 27]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/dft_avsafety_pdf_503157.pdf "Mach stem shock wave effects"], AAIB report, Appendix G (pdf), retrieved [[February 27]] [[2005]]
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/1988/881221-0.htm Aviation Safety Network summary report], retrieved [[February 27]] [[2005]]
* [http://aviation-safety.net/photos/displayphoto.php?id=19881221-0&vnr=1&kind=G Graphic of how the aircraft was destroyed], Aviation Safety Network, retrieved [[February 27]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/TheCosts.htm The cost of the trial], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/Lockerbieappealjudgement.html The judgment in Megrahi's appeal], [[March 14]] [[2002]], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/NGOs/UnitedNations/SecurityCouncilRes/UN731.html United Nations Security Council Resolution 731 (1992)], [[January 21]] [[1992]], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/NGOs/UnitedNations/SecurityCouncilRes/UN748.html United Nations Security Council Resolution 748 (1992)], [[January 21]] [[1992]], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/NGOs/UnitedNations/SecurityCouncilRes/UN883.html United Nations Security Council Resolution 883 (1993)], [[November 11]] [[1993]], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/scotland/2000/lockerbie_trial/default.stm In-depth pages on the trial], ''BBC News'', retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/12/98/lockerbie/235632.stm "Lessons from Lockerbie, ten years later"], ''BBC News'', retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.thelockerbietrial.com/ The Lockerbie Trial], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.time.com/time/europe/timetrails/lockerbie/lock920427.html "Pan Am 103: Why Did They Die?"], by Roy Rowan, ''Time Magazine'', [[April 27]] [[1992]], retrieved [[February 25]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.time.com/time/europe/timetrails/lockerbie/index.html "Time Trail: Lockerbie"], a collection of stories about the bombing from ''Time Magazine'', retrieved [[February 25]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5260/ebo1999repo.html Information about the MST-13 timers], written by MEBO, the Swiss manufacturers, [[August 19]] [[1999]], retrieved [[February 25]] [[2005]]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1817752.stm "Lockerbie appeal hears key witness"], ''BBC News'', [[February 13]] [[2002]], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1868394.stm "Lockerbie bomber loses appeal"], ''BBC News'', [[March 14]] [[2002]], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/34153.html "Lockerbie bomber to fight jail move"], by Lucy Adams, ''The Herald'', [[February 25]] [[2005]], retrieved [[February 26]] [[2005]]
* [http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/megrahi/ Website set up by supporters of Megrahi], not recently updated, retrieved [[February 27]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.panamair.org/OLDSITE/Accidents/terrorism.htm ''Abu Nidal behind Lockerbie, says aide''], ''CNN'', [[August 23]] [[2002]], retrieved [[February 27]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,2763,216917,00.html "Court told how jet's radar blip broke up at 7.02pm"] by Ian Black and Gerard Seenan, [[May 4]] [[2000]], ''The Guardian'', retrieved [[February 28]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5260/radarvic.html "Families see radar track of Flight 103's last moments"], by Edith M. Lederer, ''Associated Press'', [[October 2]] [[1990]], retrieved [[February 28]] [[2005]]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/12/98/lockerbie/236466.stm "Lockerbie, 10 years on: Reporter's reflections"] by Andrew Cassel, ''BBC News'', [[December 21]] [[1998]]
* [http://www.namibian.com.na/2002/may/world/026336CA42.html Libya offers $2.7 billion Lockerbie settlement] by Patrick Rizzo, ''The Namibian'', [[May 29]] [[2002]]
* [http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=184&id=380332005 "Libya takes back its £500 m fund for Lockerbie bereaved"] by James Kirkup, ''The Scotsman'', [[April 11]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.copi.com/octopus/temp/default.html "Censored!!"], an extract from ''Trail of the Octopus'' by Lester Coleman
* [http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/media/lockrbie.htm "Taking the blame"] by Paul Foot, a review of Lester Coleman's book
* "On the trail of terror," by Brian Duffy, ''U.S. News & World Report'', [[November 18]], [[1989]]
* "Flight 103," ''ABC News Prime Time Live'', [[November 30]], [[1989]]
* "Lockerbie bomb bore 'Libyan signature'," by Leonard Doyle, ''The Independent'', [[December 19]], [[1990]]
* "Unwitting Accomplices?", ''Barron's'', [[December 17]], [[1989]]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,334505,00.html "Timer admission in Lockerbie trial"] by Gerard Seenan, [[June 21]], [[2000]]
* Mr. Waldegrave, [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm198990/cmhansrd/1990-04-19/Writtens-5.html "House of Commons Hansard Debates"] in The [[United Kingdom Parliament]], [[19 April]] [[1990]], retrieved [[16 June]] [[2005]]
* Thatcher, M. ''The Downing Street Years'', 1993.
* Koechler, H., and Jason Subler (eds.), [http://i-p-o.org/sirxxvii.htm ''The Lockerbie Trial. Documents Related to the I.P.O. Observer Mission.''] Studies in International Relations, Vol. XXVII. Vienna: [[International Progress Organization]], 2002, ISBN 3-900704-21-X.
* [http://i-p-o.org/lockerbie_observer_mission.htm "Scottish Court in the Netherlands 2000-2002"], Web site documenting the observer mission of [[Hans Köchler|Dr. Hans Koechler]], appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as international observer at the Lockerbie trial, regularly updated, [[International Progress Organization]], retrieved 2005
* [http://www.lockerbie-and-moffat-rc-churches.freeola.com/church/lockerbie/lkrb-3.htm Lockerbie & Moffat RC Church Website, Lockerbie Disaster Plaque]
* [http://www.lockerbie-and-moffat-rc-churches.freeola.com/town/mmrl-1.htm Lockerbie & Moffat RC Church Website, Stained Glass at Council Chambers]
</div>
== Further reading ==
* Cohen, Dan and Susan. (2000) ''Pan Am 103: the Bombing, the Betrayals, and a Bereaved Family's Search for Justice'', ISBN 0-451-20270-8
* Dornstein, Ken. (2006) ''The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky'', ISBN 0-375-50359-5
* Leppard, David. (1992) ''On the Trail of Terror''
* Marquise, Richard A. (2006) ''Scotbom: Evidence and the Lockerbie Investigation'', ISBN 978-0-87586-449-5
* Köchler, Hans, and Jason Subler (eds.). (2002) ''The Lockerbie Trial. Documents related to the I.P.O. Observer Mission''. Studies in International Relations, XXVII, ISBN 390070421X
* ''Report of the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism'', [[May 15]], [[1990]], U.S. Government Printing Office, 0-266-884
== External links ==
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20021206060628/www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5260/headpage.html Archive.org cache of The Pan Am 103 Crash Website] Collected information on Pan Am 103 1995–2002
* [http://archives.syr.edu/arch/panam.htm Syracuse University Pan Am Flight 103 archive]
* [http://www.law.syr.edu/academics/centers/glap/lockerbie.asp Syracuse College of Law Lockerbie trial website]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/panam103/timeline.htm A PA103 timeline], ''The Washington Post''
* [http://www.law.syr.edu/academics/centers/glap/lockerbie_timeline.asp A PA103 timeline], Syracuse University
* [http://www.allsports.com/cgi-bin/showstory.cgi?story_id=25080 Article about victim Gretchen Dater and 9/11 victim Jeremy Glick, who both attended the same New Jersey school]
* [http://www.plane-truth.com A private investigator's view that terrorism did not destroy PA103]
* [http://www.portia.org/chapter12/lockerb1.html "Report on and evaluation of the Lockerbie trial conducted by the special Scottish Court in the Netherlands at Kamp van Zeist"] by [[Dr. Hans Köchler]], [[February 3]] [[2001]]
* [http://i-p-o.org/koechler-lockerbie-appeal_report.pdf "Report on the appeal proceedings at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands (Lockerbie Court)"] by Dr. Hans Köchler, [[International Progress Organization]], [[March 26]] [[2002]]
* [http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1855852005 Police chief—Lockerbie evidence was faked], ''[[The Scotsman]]'' [[August 28]] [[2005]]
* [http://www.dia.mil/publicaffairs/Foia/panam103.pdf Defense Intelligence Agency Redacted Pan Am Report] (response to a FOIA, 11 MB PDF)
* [http://www.cnn.com/LAW/trials.and.cases/case.files/0010/lockerbie/overview.html From Lockerbie to Camp Zeist: The Pan Am 103 Trial]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/plane_crashes/lockerbie/framesource.html Pan Am Flight 103], ''[[CBS News]]''
* [http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6845 "The New York Times on the Libya-Pan Am 103 Case: A Study in Propaganda Service"] ''Center for Research on Globalization'', Québec, Canada
* [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n12/mile01_.html Inconvenient Truths], Hugh Miles, [[London Review of Books]]
* [http://www.lockerbie.ch The Lockerbie disaster]
* [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=N739PA Pre-disaster photos of N739PA], [[Airliners.net]]
*[http://www.panamair.org/OLDSITE/Accidents/lockseats.htm Seat map of Pan Am 103]
* [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9904/06/lockerbie.suspects/index.html Lockerbie bombing suspects arraigned in Netherlands], ''[[CNN]]''
* "[http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec03/panam121903.htm BYTE OUT OF HISTORY: Solving a complex case of international terrorism]," ''[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]''
* "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/493242.stm Full wording of initial charges]," ''[[BBC]]''
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[[Category:Pan Am Flight 103|*]]
[[Category:Muammar al-Gaddafi]]
[[Category:History of Scotland]]
[[Category:United Nations]]
[[Category:Airliner bombings]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747]]
[[ar:قضية لوكربي]]
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