Today marks 34 years since the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. The disaster involving a New York-bound 747 is the deadliest terrorist attack and aviation accident ever to have taken place in the UK. The jet's wreckage rained down on Lockerbie, Scotland, which caused the event to become known as the Lockerbie Bombing. Let's take a look at how the incident unfolded, and its subsequent developments.

The flight and aircraft in question

Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) flight 103 was a regular scheduled transatlantic service that incorporated the busy London-New York corridor. However, the route in full took it from Frankfurt to Detroit via London Heathrow and New York JFK. Interestingly, the aircraft used changed en route, with a Boeing 727 operating the initial leg from Frankfurt to London Heathrow's Terminal 3.

Upon arriving in London, the passengers, luggage, and cargo were transferred from the 727 to a larger 747-100. The Aviation Safety Network shows that, on December 21st, 1988, the 747 in question bore the registration N739PA. This quadjet was named Clipper Maid of the Seas, in keeping with a long-standing naming tradition that saw Pan Am give its aircraft various 'Clipper' designations.

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According to data from ATDB.aero, N739PA was just the 15th 747 built, and it was almost 19 years old at the time, having been delivered to Pan Am in February 1970. It had arrived in London from Los Angeles via San Francisco. The 747 was due to depart at 18:00, and left Heathrow more or less on time, pushing back at 18:04. It took to the skies at 18:25, and within an hour, tragedy would strike.

How did the bombing unfold?

The story of the bombing itself didn't originate in Frankfurt, like the flight it blew out of the sky. Instead, investigations into the accident concluded that the bomb was first loaded onto an aircraft in a suitcase in Malta, before being transferred onto the Pan Am flight in Frankfurt. Just before 19:03, it exploded in the aircraft's forward cargo hold, with considerably catastrophic consequences.

The explosion blew a 50 cm (one foot and eight inches) hole in the left of N739PA's fuselage. The impact was made greater by the uncontrolled decompression resulting from the pressurized fuselage being exposed to the air outside it. This caused the plane's pitch to arc downwards, while also turning left. It broke apart as it fell, with wreckage spread over a mile (1.6 km) within just eight seconds.

The plane's wreckage rained down on the Scottish town of Lockerbie and its surroundings. All 243 passengers and 16 crew members perished in the disaster. 11 Lockerbie residents also met this tragic fate, when part of the jet's wing hit houses in Sherwood Crescent. This brought the total death toll to 270, making it the UK's deadliest terrorist attack, as well as the worst plane crash to occur in the country.

A three-year UK-US investigation resulted in arrest warrants for two Libyan men. However, it wasn't until 1999 that they were handed over. Two years later, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing, and jailed for life.

Recent developments

After being released from prison on compassionate grounds due to having contracted prostate cancer in 2009, he died in May 2012. In the decade that has followed, recent years have seen further developments in the story of the Lockerbie bombing. While the initial trial found al-Megrahi guilty and acquitted his co-defendant Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, the US issued new charges in December 2020

It did so against a third suspect, with US Attorney General William Barr stating:

"No amount of time or distance will stop the United States, and its partners in Scotland, from pursuing justice in this case. (...) For those of us who remember that tragic event, the iconic images of its aftermath (...) are forever seared in our memories."

Earlier this month, the case saw a fresh twist. Specifically, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a Libyan intelligence operator named Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud, who is suspected of having helped build the bomb that downed Pan Am flight 103. It is intended that he will be extradited to the US for prosecution. Mas'ud was first linked to the attacks in a documentary film released in 2015.

Sources: ATDB.aero, Aviation Safety Network

In memory of the victims of Pan Am flight 103.