But it . Some relatives of the dead, including Lockerbie campaigner Jim Swire, believe the bomb was planted at Heathrow Airport, and not sent via feeder flights from Malta, as per the US and UK governments. "[96] Megrahi died of prostate cancer in Libya on 20 May 2012. The nose cone was briefly held on by a band of metal, but facing aft, like the lid of a can. [90][91][92] A family of four was killed when their house at 15 Sherwood Crescent exploded. Syracuse University Remembrance Scholars took their seats on the Quad at noon for 35 minutes, honoring the 35 students killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Swire and many other UK relatives have never believed in the guilt of the man convicted of the bombing, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Malta was brought into the case because the prosecution argued that the two accused Libyans, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, had placed the bomb on an Air Malta aircraft before it was transferred at Frankfurt airport to a feeder flight destined for London's Heathrow airport, from which Pan Am Flight 103 departed. Speaking after he arrived at Edinburgh Castle, Colin said: "I was thinking about Bryony today. After a three-year investigation in which the FBI and Scottish authorities worked hand in hand, the British and American governments in November 1991 announced indictments and warrants for the arrests of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah. Aviation security as we know it today did not exist in 1988. It said activities of victims relatives would need careful watching. Weve grown incredibly close to Hugh and Margaret over the years, calling each other, sending Christmas gifts and writing old-fashioned letters. We had to have another look at ourselves and decide we are not simply dealing with people from Scotland, from the United Kingdom, McCulloch said. In 2009 Megrahi, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, was released from prison in Scotland on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya; the United States strongly disagreed with the Scottish governments decision. Act as a Spokesperson In case of an emergency, one person should take primary responsibility to speak on behalf of the entire organization to eliminate conflicting messages and to prevent the spread of misinformation. His mother, Elizabeth . On December 21 Pan Am Flight 103 crashed on Lockerbie after the bombing of a Boeing 747-121. Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. On Dec. 21, 1988, a bomb went off on a Pan Am passenger plane flying over Lockerbie, Scotland, causing a midair explosion that sent the aircraft crashing down. Two of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster may have initially survived the explosion, a report suggests. "[79] Kchler also highlighted the role of intelligence services in the trial and stated that proper judicial proceedings could not be conducted under conditions in which extrajudicial forces are allowed to intervene. A last treasured picture of Laurie Ciulla and her father Frank, who died in the Lockerbie disaster, Five of Frank's grandchildren at the fields where he was found, The grandchildren say they feel connected to Frank when they visit the place he was found, Farmer Hugh Connell discovered Frank six miles from Lockerbie still strapped to his seat, Police guard the wreckage of the Lockerbie Bombing in 1988, Jim Swire and John Mosey say they will fight for justice. Others sought the comfort of the peaceful memorials erected to honor the victims. Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 21:49, terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Directorate-General for External Security, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command, Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, President of the United Nations General Assembly, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, 1933 United Airlines Boeing 247 mid-air explosion, "Clipper Maid of the Seas: Remembering those on flight 103", "Colonel Gaddafi 'ordered Lockerbie bombing", "Libya ready to accept responsibility for Lockerbie bombing", "Lockerbie investigators 'question former Stasi agents', "US unveils new charges against the suspect in 1988 Lockerbie bombing", "Lockerbie bombing suspect in US custody", "Photo: N739PA (CN: 19646) Boeing 747-121 by Jon Proctor Photoid:5894156 - JetPhotos.Net", "Pan Am Jet Crashes in Scotland, Killing at Least 273", "Diamonds in the Sky EP04 Aviation travel industry history series Conquering the Atlantic", "Court told how jet's radar blip broke up at 7.02pm", "UK | Lockerbie pair 'could have survived', "PaulJeffreys.com: website in the memory of Paul Jeffreys", "Honoring DS Fallen: Ronald Albert Lariviere", "EverythingPanAm.com The Virtual Pan Am Museum", "Lockerbie and the worst Christmas imaginable", "Pan Am Flight 103's Victims: A list of Those Killed 25 Years Ago", "Lockerbie: The town scarred by Pan Am flight 103", "Report of the President's Commission on Aviation Safety and Terrorism", "Muammar Gaddafi ordered Lockerbie bombing, says Libyan minister", "Khadaffi gav order om Lockerbie-attentatet [Gaddafi ordered the Lockerbie bombing]", "Libya rebel leader: I have evidence Gaddafi ordered Lockerbie", Gareth Pierce,24 September 2009, London Review of Books, "Secret CIA testimony identifies real Lockerbie mastermind", "Iran denies new Lockerbie bombing claims | SBS News", "US paid reward to Lockerbie witness, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi papers claim", "Scottish Panel Challenges Lockerbie Conviction", Report on Identification Procedures: Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi v. H.M. Advocate, "FBI offered me $4m: Lockerbie bomb witness", SCCRC Referral of Megrahi case for 2nd appeal, "Two new Lockerbie bombing suspects identified BBC News", "New Charges in Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing", "Lockerbie bombing suspect is now in US custody, Scottish authorities say", "Verdict of the Scottish Court in the Netherlands, 31 January 2001 from the official transcript", "Dr Hans Kchler's statement, August 2003", "Dr Hans Kchler's statement, October 2005", "Double standards in criminal justice: Pan Am Flight 103 v. HIV trial in Libya", "SCCRC refers Megrahi's case for second appeal", "SCCRC decides "a miscarriage of justice may have occurred", "Statement by Dr Hans Kchler on SCCRC decision, 29 June 2007", Lockerbie trial: an intelligence operation? [168], The bombing of Flight 103 has been depicted in many documentaries, such as Air Crash Investigation and the BBC. And Government files kept secret until now reveal that security service agents thought the families were getting organised and needed careful watching. We knew then we had to meet them.. When asked if Libya would therefore seek reimbursement of the compensation paid to the families of the victims (US$33billion in total), Saif Gaddafi replied: "I don't know". Following his release, Megrahi published evidence on the Internet that was gathered for the abandoned second appeal which he claimed would clear his name. The suitcase was then routed to a feeder flight in Frankfurt bound for Londons Heathrow Airport, where it was ultimately loaded onto the doomed jet. The cockpit crew was based at JFK.[20]. At 18, Colin Dorrance was the youngest police officer on duty that night and has never forgotten the child who was brought to him by the farmer. "We owe it to the families of the victims of Lockerbie and the international community to identify those responsible," McGowan said. Now, in their verdant peacefulness, they tell the story of a remarkable transatlantic friendship that blossomed out of a terrifying nightmare. . On the ground in Lockerbie, it was early evening. Mohammed al-Alagi, justice minister for the new leadership in Tripoli, said "the council would not allow any Libyan to be deported to face trial in another country Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has already been judged once, and will not be judged again. [11][13] In 1978, as Clipper Morning Light, it had appeared in "Conquering the Atlantic", the fourth episode of the BBC Television documentary series Diamonds in the Sky, presented by Julian Pettifer.[14]. [59], A circuit board fragment, allegedly found embedded in a piece of charred material, was identified as part of an electronic timer similar to one found on a Libyan intelligence agent who had been arrested 10 months previously for carrying materials for a Semtex bomb. No distress call was recorded; a 180-millisecond hissing noise could be heard as the explosion destroyed the aircraft's communications center. Later, on 23 March 1986, a Libyan Navy patrol boat was sunk in the Gulf of Sidra,[106] followed by the sinking of another Libyan vessel on 25 March 1986. Dr Swire, who became the public face of families fight for justice, said similar things had happened to him. Across the town, across Scotland, across the world, the scale of the tragedy was becoming clear. Within a week of what Scottish authorities were calling the Lockerbie air disaster, it was determined that Pan Am Flight 103 had been destroyed by a bomb. He would later lead a team of investigators that followed the evidence to Malta. The day of the verdict was January 31, 2001. We all laid roses at the tree Hugh and Margaret had planted at the spot where they found dad and went to see the memorial in the town. UN sanctions against Libya and protracted negotiations with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi secured the handover of the accused on 5 April 1999 to Scottish police at Camp Zeist, the Netherlands, which was selected as a neutral venue for their trial. In October 2008 it was announced that Megrahi was suffering from terminal cancer, and in August 2009, he was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Colin Dorrance was on duty outside the town hall when a farmer drove down from the hills in a pick-up truck with debris from Pan Am 103 and, placed in the front seat, the body of a young girl. In fact, many have vowed never to forget, to make sure the lessons of Lockerbie are not lost on future generations. All 259 people on board were killed, and 11 individuals on the ground also died. The perpetrators had apparently intended the plane to crash into the sea, destroying any traceable evidence, but its explosion over land left a trail of evidence.[56]. Ruined houses in the town of Lockerbie after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York in 1988. On 7 July 2009, the court reassembled for a procedural hearing and was told that because of the illness of one of the judges, Lord Wheatley, who was recovering from heart surgery, the final two substantive appeal sessions would run from 2 November to 11 December 2009, and 12 January to 26 February 2010. His survival beyond the approximate "three-month" prognosis generated some controversy. After a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the US FBI, during which 15,000 witness statements were taken, indictments for murder were issued on 13 November 1991 against Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer and the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, the LAA station manager in Luqa Airport, Malta. A terrorist bomb destroyed the airliner on 21 December, 1988, killing all 259 passengers and crew on board. [22] The rear fuselage, parts of the baggage hold, and three landing gear units landed at Rosebank Crescent. Laurie, of New Jersey, said: It was very emotional. Laurie, 49, says: Mum called Hugh and Margaret. We update each other on what both organizations are doing, we have regular face-to-face meetings, whether in the U.S. or Scotland, and we keep in contact., If I had a message to tell the families and people around the world, Cossar added, it is that this is very much a live investigation, and we are hopeful that at some point in the future we will have potentially another trial and possibly another conviction.. Lockerbie bombing victims with the remaining 20% of the sum agreed in 2003; News.bbc.co.uk. It was three years before Franks widow Mary Lou and her family discovered the Connells moving vigil when they received a phone call in 1991 from another family whose loved one was also found on the farmland. [1] Large sections of the aircraft crashed in a residential street in Lockerbie, killing 11 residents. Mum had been so worried about him dying alone in the cold of the Scottish countryside. The documents are understood to relate to the Mebo MST-13 timer that allegedly detonated the PA103 bomb. [107] The Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was accused of retaliating for these sinkings by ordering the April 1986 bombing of La Belle, a West Berlin nightclub frequented by US military personnel, killing three people and injuring 230. On the ground, 11 residents of Lockerbie were killed when the planes burning wings plunged into a quiet neighborhood just after dinner. [150], In 1992, a US federal court found Pan Am guilty of willful misconduct due to lax security screening caused by not implementing baggage reconciliation, a new security program mandated by the FAA prior to the incident, which requires unaccompanied luggage to be searched by hand and to ensure passengers board flights onto which they have checked baggage; Pan Am relied more on the less-effective method of x-ray screening. Dad was cremated so we dont have a grave or marker to visit. At the 20th anniversary service at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, former FBI Director Robert Mueller greeted Scottish and U.S. investigators who worked on the investigation. He'd gone to the farm where the body of 21-year-old student Lynne Hartunian was found, along with many other passengers from the plane. In 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over the two men for trial at Camp Zeist, the Netherlands, after protracted negotiations and UN sanctions. Did you encounter any technical issues? As a new officer, he was assigned a 12-hour night shift securing the property store. Every 21 December, a service is held in the university's chapel at 14:03 (19:03 UTC), marking the moment the bomb on board the aircraft was detonated. People were turning up for duty that had just finished a 10-hour shift but were prepared to come back out and work again right through the night., Harry Bell was a 42-year-old detective stationed near Glasgow, more than an hour away from Lockerbie. While in Lockerbie, 7 years after the flight, she meets the women who witnessed and were affected by the crash itself while she attempts to find closure. It offered us so much comfort to know that he had been looked after.. They were laid to rest in a single coffin in the West Wales village of Pendine, Carmarthenshire. Iran's involvement is alleged, either in association with a Palestine militant group, or in loading the bomb while the plane was at Heathrow. Today, present and former scholars number more than 1,000. A substantial quantity of such timers had been supplied to Libya. Lockerbie is changed. Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi was said to be the "third conspirator" behind the downing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988. Al-Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. "It was the body of a child he'd found in a field at the back of his farm," he said. Inside each sculpture there is a personal memento of the victim. The same source claims that, following this, "the shaking stopped and to his surprise he was uninjured". Investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the British Department for Transport concluded that the nose of the aircraft was blown off and separated from the main fuselage within three seconds of the explosion. It was 11 years after the bombing. Afterward, United States and British investigators found fragments of a circuit board and a timer, and ruled that a bomb, not mechanical failure, caused the explosion. 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. The Boeing 747, known as the Clipper Maid of the Seas, left London Heathrow with 243 passengers and 16 crew members, including 189 Americans. Thirty-five Syracuse students returning home from a study abroad program were killed on the flight, and the university vowed never to forget them. It was like war for them, said Lockerbie resident Moira Shearer, speaking of the young soldiers who had never seen death before. He became a senior investigating officer on the case and was the person who arrested al-Megrahi and Fhimah. Other parts of the jetliner came to rest in and around Lockerbie. As the forward fuselage continued to disintegrate, the flying debris tore off both of the horizontal stabilizers, while the rear fuselage, the remaining three engines, and the fin torque box separated. In Lockerbie Town Hall Council Chambers, there is a stained-glass window depicting flags of the 21 countries whose citizens lost their lives in the disaster. "[51], In December 2013, the original prime suspects in the bombing were revealed to have been the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC), a Syria-based group led by Ahmed Jibril. The bombing kills all 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 jumbo jet and 11 residents of the town of Lockerbie. The trigger for the explosion was an MST-13 timer of the single solder mask variety. She didn't realize at first what was . Air Crash Investigation - Black Box Sky Crimes, PSA Flight 1771, FedEx Flight 705 , Pan Am Flight. There was a great roaring noise and flames coming out of a great big hole in the ground and dense, dense smoke. [57] An official report, providing information not made available to the defence during the original trial, stated that on 19 April 1999, four days before identifying al-Megrahi for the first time, Gauci had seen a picture of al-Megrahi in a magazine that connected him to the bombing, a fact that could have distorted his judgement. [146] Several of the victims families refused to accept compensation due to their belief that Libya was not responsible. Suddenly there was a tremendous crash outside, and the neighborhood was ablaze. In many ways, the reverberations are still being felt today. Megrahi is seen below a portrait of Gadhafi at Tripoli Medical Center in Libya. Another 11 people died when the wreckage fell onto the Scottish town which gave the atrocity its name. Their son witnessed a fireball engulfing his home from a neighbour's garage, where he had been repairing his sister's bicycle. "I now know the person I need to remember. The FBI has worked tirelessly through the years., Weipz spoke in public recently about Pan Am Flight 103, and there were people in the audience who were shocked when they learned the FBI investigation was still open. About 7:00 pm on December 21, Pan Am flight 103, a Boeing 747 en route to New York City from London, exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. [citation needed], At 19:02:44, Alan Topp, the clearance delivery officer at Shanwick, transmitted its oceanic route clearance. Covers the bombing of the Boeing 747 Pan American Airways flight 103 at Lockerbie, Scotland at 1903 hours on December 21, 1988 that killed 259 passengers and crew and 11 Lockerbie residents. she said that the cockpit of Pan Am flight 103 landed 50 yards from the remote cottage she still . November 1991: Libyans Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah accused. In a matter of hours, thousands of police officers, firefighters, military personnel, and other volunteers converged on rural Lockerbie. I don't know if many of us could have survived if we didn't have each other, said Glenn Johnson, a Pennsylvania resident whose 21-year-old daughter, Beth Ann, was killed in the bombing. All were originally hired by Pan Am and seniority ranged from 9 months to 28 years. [58] Gauci was shown the same magazine during his testimony at al-Megrahi's trial and asked if he had identified the photograph in April 1999 as being the person who purchased the clothing; he was then asked if that person was in the court. Terrific heat, he recalled. [104] The letter stated that it "accepted responsibility for the actions of its officials". Katz, Samuel M. "Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the manhunt for the al-Qaeda terrorists", 2002. "[86], On 25 July 2009, Megrahi applied to be released from jail on compassionate grounds. Forty minutes into the flight, the plane had reached the coast of Scotland. Stobbs immediately made his way to Lockerbie and then to Sherwood Crescent. [55], The initial investigation into the crash site by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary involved many helicopter surveys, satellite imaging, and a search of the area by police and soldiers. Scottish police had also failed to inform the defence that another witness had testified seeing Libyan men making a similar purchase on a different day. "[131] The statement first came to public attention in the 1994 documentary film The Maltese Double Cross Lockerbie and was published in both The Guardian of 12 November 1994, and a special report from Private Eye magazine entitled Lockerbie, the flight from justice May/June 2001. Eleven Lockerbie residents on Sherwood Crescent were killed when the wing section hit the house at 13 Sherwood Crescent at more than 800km/h (500mph) and exploded, creating a crater 47m (154ft) long and with a volume of 560m3 (730cuyd). . It was the first time the FBI was involved working with other agencies, with other governments, to investigate and eventually resolve a major international terrorist attack against Americans, said Dick Marquise, the retired FBI agent who initially led the Bureaus investigation and who still cares deeply about the case. Many of their bodies were found at Rosebank Crescent, .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}12mi (0.8km) from Sherwood Crescent. So Laurie, Mary Lou, now 75, sister Michelle Lipkin, 47, and brother Frank, 51, made their first pilgrimage to meet the Connells in 1992. [102], After the United States government obtained custody of Mas'ud, heads of the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committees of the Libyan Parliament, Talal al-Mihoub and Youssef al-Aqouri, demanded an urgent investigation into the extradition of Mas'ud, calling it a blatant violation of national sovereignty and an infringement of the rights of the Libyan citizen. This has always been regarded as a joint investigation with our FBI colleagues, said Stuart Cossar, the Police Scotland investigator. Lord Sutherland, sitting with two other judges, listened as Mr Topp described how at 7.02pm he first noticed a radar abnormality with Pan Am flight 103. We will never ever forget what they did for our father.. The clothes were traced to a Maltese merchant, Tony Gauci, who became a key prosecution witness, testifying that he sold the clothes to a man of Libyan appearance. According to a CIA analysis dated 22 December 1988, several groups were quick to claim responsibility in telephone calls in the United States and Europe: The list's author noted, "We consider the claims from the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution as the most credible one received so far," but the analysis concluded, "We cannot assign responsibility for this tragedy to any terrorist group at this time. August 2009: Cancer victim al-Megrahi freed on compassionate grounds. Updates? Kathryn Turman, assistant director of the FBIs Victim Services Division, at the time headed the Office for Victims of Crime at the Department of Justice and was asked to create an assistance plan for families of the victims during the trial. "[52] A deep-cover CIA agent was told by up to 15 high-level Syrian officials that the PFLP-GC was involved and that officials interacted with Jibril "on a constant basis". Megrahi 'hero's welcome' triggers a diplomatic row, "Brown, BP Cleared of Lobbying Scots to Free Bomber", Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is 'in coma', "Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies in Tripoli", "The U.S. has taken custody of the alleged bomb maker in the 1988 Lockerbie attack", "U.S. Unseals Charges Against New Suspect in 1988 Lockerbie Bombing, and who is Mas'ud? . A total of 270 people were killed when a bomb ripped apart Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988. About 7:00 pm on December 21, Pan Am flight 103, a Boeing 747 en route to New York City from . The timer was allegedly traced through its Swiss manufacturer, Mebo, to the Libyan military, and Mebo employee Ulrich Lumpert identified the fragment at al-Megrahi's trial. [137], A civil action against Libya continued until 18 February 2005 on behalf of Pan Am and its insurers, which went bankrupt partly as a result of the attack.