Almost a quarter of a century ago a small Scottish village became known throughout the world because of an act of terrorism. The name of that village was Lockerbie, and that terrorist act claimed 270 lives. The Jumbo Jet was just over half an hour into its flight, from London's Heathrow to New York's JFK, when an explosion took place. Following is an abbreviated look at the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation.
The aircraft was at flight level 310, or 31,000 feet, when the incident occurred and as a consequence debris was strewn over a huge area. In fact the area was so large that not only were military helicopters used for surveying the area, but the investigating teams also used satellite images. It can be said that the delayed departure allowed such a detailed analysis to take place. Had everything been on schedule then the explosion would have occurred over the Atlantic Ocean.
More than ten thousand items of debris were collected. Every single one was tagged and logged into a computer program. Even some major structures which had fallen on or around Lockerbie itself. The flight data recorder was discovered the next day, by a pair of boys who found it near to some woods.
The analysis was a major operation which involved over 1000 people, scouring a lot of southern Scotland over several months. The military were called in to bolster the efforts, with manpower and equipment. The recovered debris was initially taken to a local school's gymnasium. Each piece was x-rayed and passed through a gas chromatograph.
There were no immediate indications as to what brought the plane down. It was soon becoming clearer that the incident had been the result of an explosion, as small traces of Semtex were being detected. Also there were parts of what was identified as a timing device found in the wreckage.
With more to work with the fuselage section was slowly pieced back together by members of the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch. Through their efforts they determined that an area on the fuselage, approximately 20 square inches in size had been near to the seat of the explosion. It was an area next to the forward cargo hold.
The baggage containers from the hold were mainly damaged in a way consistent with a fall from a great height. However two also showed other unexplained damage. From the cargo loading records it was possible to pinpoint their positions within the hold. Over in America tests were being conducted to determine how much explosives, and the location, would cause identical blast damage.
From this information not only were the investigators able to trace every item of luggage within that baggage container, but also which one was the suspect item. They even deduced the contents through recovered fragments of clothing. Which lead them to Sliema, Malta. Thanks to a trader one of the prime suspects was a man he identified as the person he had sold the clothes to.
After 3 long years the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation came to a close. It had involved many different agencies from various countries, although it had been primarily a UK/US operation. Due to all of the care, and attention to detail, throughout the 3 years the perpetrators had to stand trial in the Netherlands, which was deemed a neutral country.
The aircraft was at flight level 310, or 31,000 feet, when the incident occurred and as a consequence debris was strewn over a huge area. In fact the area was so large that not only were military helicopters used for surveying the area, but the investigating teams also used satellite images. It can be said that the delayed departure allowed such a detailed analysis to take place. Had everything been on schedule then the explosion would have occurred over the Atlantic Ocean.
More than ten thousand items of debris were collected. Every single one was tagged and logged into a computer program. Even some major structures which had fallen on or around Lockerbie itself. The flight data recorder was discovered the next day, by a pair of boys who found it near to some woods.
The analysis was a major operation which involved over 1000 people, scouring a lot of southern Scotland over several months. The military were called in to bolster the efforts, with manpower and equipment. The recovered debris was initially taken to a local school's gymnasium. Each piece was x-rayed and passed through a gas chromatograph.
There were no immediate indications as to what brought the plane down. It was soon becoming clearer that the incident had been the result of an explosion, as small traces of Semtex were being detected. Also there were parts of what was identified as a timing device found in the wreckage.
With more to work with the fuselage section was slowly pieced back together by members of the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch. Through their efforts they determined that an area on the fuselage, approximately 20 square inches in size had been near to the seat of the explosion. It was an area next to the forward cargo hold.
The baggage containers from the hold were mainly damaged in a way consistent with a fall from a great height. However two also showed other unexplained damage. From the cargo loading records it was possible to pinpoint their positions within the hold. Over in America tests were being conducted to determine how much explosives, and the location, would cause identical blast damage.
From this information not only were the investigators able to trace every item of luggage within that baggage container, but also which one was the suspect item. They even deduced the contents through recovered fragments of clothing. Which lead them to Sliema, Malta. Thanks to a trader one of the prime suspects was a man he identified as the person he had sold the clothes to.
After 3 long years the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation came to a close. It had involved many different agencies from various countries, although it had been primarily a UK/US operation. Due to all of the care, and attention to detail, throughout the 3 years the perpetrators had to stand trial in the Netherlands, which was deemed a neutral country.
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