Pan Am Flight 103

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103, a Boeing 747 operated by Pan-American World Airways, was destroyed by a bomb over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 passengers and crew members, and 11 more on the ground. This episode of History's a Disaster, hosted by Andrew, delves into the deadliest terrorist attack in UK history, detailing the investigation and the hunt for the Libyan perpetrators. Learn about the aftermath, including the impact on Pan Am, international cooperation in the investigation, and the lasting legacy of the attack, including the establishment of the FBI's Office for Victim Assistance.

00:00 Introduction to the Lockerbie Bombing
01:10 Details of the Bombing
03:12 Immediate Aftermath and Investigation
06:48 Suspects and Legal Proceedings
09:50 Memorials and Legacy
11:41 Impact on Pan Am and Conclusion

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Transcript

 On December 21st, 1988, a bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 1 0 3 a Boeing 7 47, operated by Pan-American World Airways as it ascended to 31,000 feet passing over locker B Scotland. There was no survivors following wreckage would cause damage over eight and 45 square miles. Claim the lives of even more people on the ground.

This would be the deadliest terrorist attack in the UK's history. So what happened? Who was behind this deadly attack? Well, let's find out.

Hello and welcome to History's a Disaster. I'm your host Andrew. Tonight we are talking about the bombing of Pan Am Flight 1 0 3, the deadliest terrorist attack in the uk, and until nine 11, the deadliest attack against US civilians. Out of the 259 people on the plane, 195 were American with 35 being students from Syracuse University.

Who had been studying in London, the bombing would also become Britain's largest criminal inquiry and was led by its smallest police force, the dump, freeze, and Galloway constabulary. The town of Lockerby typically would only have four officers on duty at a time, four days before Christmas in 1988.

Passengers preparing to return home to celebrate the holidays boarded Pan Am flight 1 0 3 in total, 243 passengers and 16 crew members would board the 7 47 preparing for the final leg of the voyage after transferring from a flight outta West Germany. Pan Am Flight 1 0 3 was traveling from London to New York City as it passed over Lockerby Scotland at roughly six miles in the air.

It was preparing for the oceanic part of its flight when a timer activated bomb detonated in its forward cargo hold less than 40 minutes into the flight. The bomb was made from the odorless plastic explosive called emtex. And was hidden inside a radio packed away in a suitcase. The blast would rip the airplane into a thousand pieces.

The rear fuselage and landing gear would come crashing down in the center of town. The nose cone would land in a field outside of a church miles away. In total, 300 tons of wreckage would be spread out over 845 square miles. Lockerby at this time in history was just a small farming village. Chief Constable John Boyd was the head of the small 22 member police force, and quickly got search parties organized to search for possible survivors.

He would call for help from police departments in the surrounding area and the military's mountain rescue team who had dogs trained to find people. It would soon be clear they would not find any. All 259 passengers and crew members died in the blast. 21 homes in the area, and 11 more people would die as a result of the falling wreckage.

Witnesses and locker B and surrounding areas reported seeing pieces of the aircraft crashing to the ground. Many of which were on fire. As pieces smashed into the ground, some of them exploded with one incident. The explosion was compared to a mushroom cloud that let a 40 foot deep crater where homes had once stood.

Answers to the tragedy were quickly demanded by grief stricken families. Many of whom flew to Erbe as soon as they could. By the morning of the 22nd, more than 1100 police officers and 600 military personnel would arrive on scene. The agencies represented were both British and American members of the F-A-A-F-B-I-C-I-A.

The Air Accident Investigation branch, the British version of the FAA all took part in the investigation. At first, they were all puzzled as to how the airplane quickly vanished from radar without even getting off an emergency call. After months of a recovery operation, the investigators found a piece of a scorched shirt that contained a small piece of a circuit board.

They had been fused into the fabric from the heat of the explosion. A CI, A electronics expert, would later determine the circuit board was a part of a timer circuit made by the libyans, or made specifically for the libyans. During the three year investigation, 15,000 people were interviewed in more than 30 countries.

Over 150,000 pieces of evidence was collected. Initially, suspicion would fall on Iran and the popular front for the Liberation of Palestine. It was believed the attack was in retaliation for the US Navy shooting down an Iranian airliner. They mistook for a fighter jet. Three months before the bombing, west German police raided several apartments in Frankfurt and arrested members of the popular front.

They had gotten caught in the process of assembling bombs inside tape recorders. Most of them would have been released by the time of the bombing. There would be a months long investigation into the men before the investigation went in a different direction. Would soon point them towards Malta based on clothing found they believed to be in the bomb suitcase.

Authorities then identified Libyan nationals. I am going to butcher the hell out of these names. But you know what? Fuck these guys. Ali, Mohamed, El Marre and El Amin Kalifa FEMA as the primary suspects and accused them of making the bomb, which they said was made out of syntax, then hidden in a Toshiba cassette recorder inside a Samsonite suitcase.

They believed the bag was transferred from an Arab Multita flight unaccompanied to London to pay an AM flight 1 0 3. The FBI and CIA said The suspects who were employed by Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta were in fact Libyan spies. Libyan leader, Muammar Kadafi denied responsibility for the attack and refused to hand over the suspects to the un, the UN Security Council, and later the US smacked Libya with economic sanctions and it wouldn't be until 2002 when Libya finally handed over the men.

During the trial, Grahe would be found guilty and sentenced to 27 years in prison. FEMA would be found not guilty due to a lack of evidence. Libya would end up paying over $2 billion in compensation to the families of those who were killed in 2009. Mc.

Was released on compassionate grounds, which of course pissed off the US in 2010, an investigation called for by a US Senator revealed that BP oil company had worked on a prisoner transfer agreement between Libya and the uk. Although they claim Grahe was not specifically mentioned. And do we really need another reason to hate on an oil company?

McGraw, he would end up dying at home in Libya in 2012. In 2015, Scottish authorities announced they had identified two more Libyans as possible suspects. US Attorney General William Barr would follow up five years later in 2020 when he announced criminal charges against former Libyan Intelligence Officer Abu Muhammad.

Here, I'll marry me. Damn, that's a fucking mouthful. In relation to the Lockerby attack, he would be arrested and handed over to US authorities in 2022 where he would be indicted. He is currently in US custody awaiting trial set for May of this year. The locker. B Memorial Carn was a gift from the people of Scotland to the people of the United States.

The Carn is made from 270 red Scottish sandstone, a one stone for each victim. It was financed entirely through private donations, and the stones came from a quarry near Lockerby in 1993. Congress unanimously passed Senate resolution 1 29 to place the memorial card in Arlington National Cemetery. In November of that year, president Clinton would sign the bill into law.

In November of that year, president Clinton would sign the bill into law, and on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy, deliver the keynote address at the groundbreaking ceremony. P and m. Flight 1 0 3 was a critical moment for the FBI. They were pushed from being a national, federal law enforcement agency onto the international stage.

It was the first time they had to really work with other governments and foreign agencies to investigate and solve a major terrorist attack against American civilians. They built up close relations with many of these agencies. Especially those in Scotland, the Scottish left a lasting impression on the FBI.

After seeing how they handled the families of the victims in 2001, the FBI would establish the office for victim assistance. This office was founded to make sure families were updated and given proper support so that their needs were met and that they had the help they needed to get through the terrible event.

This office would be established at nearly the same time as the nine 11 attacks Pan Am would face serious repercussions in the wake of the disaster, uh, from being fined $630,000 by the FAA for violating security policies and multiple airports, p and m had ignored previous warnings from the FAA and were not properly screening luggage.

The FAA had a policy that all luggage had to be matched to a passenger. If something didn't match up, the luggage was supposed to be opened up and searched. Pan Am routinely ignored. This, the tragedy of Flight 1 0 3 would also cause such a scare amongst the public that people quit flying Pan Am the year after the bombing, they lost $306 million.

This was on top of Han Am having already been struggling financially for many years, they would end up being forced to shut down in 1991. And you know what? Honestly, good fucking riddance had security warnings been taken seriously and luggage been screened properly according to regulations at the time.

This disaster could have possibly been avoided. That was the bombing of Pan Amp, flight 1 0 3 at the time, the deadliest terrorist attack against American civilians and a case that is still ongoing. The FBI will never forget and they will never give up, trying to bring all suspects of the bombing to justice.

Thanks for listening, and if you like this episode, please consider leaving a rating or review on your Apple Choice. Or reach out at history a disaster@gmail.com or Facebook and Instagram at the same name with questions or comments or even better share the episode and remember, sharing is caring and if there was more caring in the world, maybe history wouldn't be a disaster.

Thanks, Anne. Goodbye.