The subject of the Pan Am Flight 103 air crash investigation was the explosion of an American airliner over the sleepy town of Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988 shortly after 7:00 PM. The village contains a golf course, a train station and a park named after King Edward. The town is passed by Highway A74(M).
The quiet village was changed forever. The flight originated in Frankfurt and was destined for New York City, New York, following a brief stop at London Heathrow to deposit and collect passengers for the onward journey. The aircraft blew up over the village, resulting in the loss of a total of 270 people, 11 of whom were Lockerbie residents. The crash left a six-mile trail of debris.
Shortly before the crash, on the 18th of December, U. S. Embassies in Russia and in Finland released a warning that a terrorist attack on an American airliner travelling from Frankfurt to the United States was imminent. The local police departments were made aware of the threat, as was the airline, although the travelling public were kept oblivious to the threat. Several people had planned to board the aircraft in London, but for various reasons did not make it. Among these people were a government official from South Africa, a mechanic from India and a popular American singing group.
Records showed that an unaccompanied piece of luggage had been routed from Malta to Frankfurt, where it was loaded onto the feeder flight to London, Pan Am 103A. Police later discovered that the only person ever convicted of the bombing, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, had also boarded that same flight. This was believed to be the suitcase that contained the bomb. Security was later tightened at small airports all around the world.
Fingertip searches of the Lockerbie area in the process of the crash investigation turned up 56 pieces of a suitcase showing extensive bomb damage. A circuit board from the bomb was reported to have been found wrapped inside a child's t-shirt from Malta. The Maltese shopkeeper at first identified the man who bought the shirt as Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, although he later withdrew his remarks.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing at a trial held in the Netherlands, a neutral country in the years 2000 and 2001. He was tried under Scottish law, as that was the site of the crime.
At the conclusion of the trial, the Libyan was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, serving a minimum of 27 years. Seven years later, in 2008, the convicted killer was diagnosed with terminal cancer and freed from prison by the then Scottish Secretary of Justice. He was flown to his home state of Libya on compassionate grounds. This decision remains hotly contested by people in the United Kingdom and in America. Insult followed injury when the convicted mass murderer was welcomed a hero when he arrived in Libya.
The Scottish contingent of the Pan Am Flight 103 air crash investigation was led by Chief Inspector Watson McAteer and John Orr. The American team consisted of CIA personnel Vince Cannistraro and Jim Shaughnessy, along with Robert Muller and Larry Whittaker. The investigators had seen the inside of 13 countries and gathered 15,000 statements, 12,700 name cards and 35,000 photographs.
The quiet village was changed forever. The flight originated in Frankfurt and was destined for New York City, New York, following a brief stop at London Heathrow to deposit and collect passengers for the onward journey. The aircraft blew up over the village, resulting in the loss of a total of 270 people, 11 of whom were Lockerbie residents. The crash left a six-mile trail of debris.
Shortly before the crash, on the 18th of December, U. S. Embassies in Russia and in Finland released a warning that a terrorist attack on an American airliner travelling from Frankfurt to the United States was imminent. The local police departments were made aware of the threat, as was the airline, although the travelling public were kept oblivious to the threat. Several people had planned to board the aircraft in London, but for various reasons did not make it. Among these people were a government official from South Africa, a mechanic from India and a popular American singing group.
Records showed that an unaccompanied piece of luggage had been routed from Malta to Frankfurt, where it was loaded onto the feeder flight to London, Pan Am 103A. Police later discovered that the only person ever convicted of the bombing, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, had also boarded that same flight. This was believed to be the suitcase that contained the bomb. Security was later tightened at small airports all around the world.
Fingertip searches of the Lockerbie area in the process of the crash investigation turned up 56 pieces of a suitcase showing extensive bomb damage. A circuit board from the bomb was reported to have been found wrapped inside a child's t-shirt from Malta. The Maltese shopkeeper at first identified the man who bought the shirt as Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, although he later withdrew his remarks.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing at a trial held in the Netherlands, a neutral country in the years 2000 and 2001. He was tried under Scottish law, as that was the site of the crime.
At the conclusion of the trial, the Libyan was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, serving a minimum of 27 years. Seven years later, in 2008, the convicted killer was diagnosed with terminal cancer and freed from prison by the then Scottish Secretary of Justice. He was flown to his home state of Libya on compassionate grounds. This decision remains hotly contested by people in the United Kingdom and in America. Insult followed injury when the convicted mass murderer was welcomed a hero when he arrived in Libya.
The Scottish contingent of the Pan Am Flight 103 air crash investigation was led by Chief Inspector Watson McAteer and John Orr. The American team consisted of CIA personnel Vince Cannistraro and Jim Shaughnessy, along with Robert Muller and Larry Whittaker. The investigators had seen the inside of 13 countries and gathered 15,000 statements, 12,700 name cards and 35,000 photographs.
About the Author:
You can visit www.threesistersponds.com for more helpful information about Pan Am Flight 103 Air Crash Investigation.
0 comments:
Post a Comment