In the debris, investigators found a tiny fragment that helped establish that the bomb had been placed inside a radio in a piece of luggage aboard Pan Am 103. Another small fragment, found embedded in a piece of shirt, helped identify the explosive timer. This evidence led to two Libyan intelligence operatives.
In 1991, the British and American governments charged Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah in the case. Their trial in 2000 was held in Scottish court built for the occasion on a former U.S. military base in the Netherlands. The court acquitted Fhimah and convicted al Megrahi in 2001, sentencing him to life in prison. He was released in 2009 when he was believed near death from cancer, but he survived almost three more years.
Not only remember it, I was flying back to the US from Germany, stopped to visit friends in London, or I would have been on that flight.
I had been a travel writer for Pan Am. They flew me all over the world to write articles for their inflight magazine. Remember those? Pan Am, unfortunately, stopped flying to Asia, choosing European flights instead. They went out of business after Lockerbie.
Brought to you by the DEA.
Went to see the site, back in ‘92.
A horrible event.
I remember seeing the news, and they were interviewing a mother of one of the passengers, right when she heard the news her daughter was on board.
I will never forget it.
Thanks to Starlink streaming, we’ll be able to see the final moments of the passengers before a plane crashes, not that its something people want to see about their relatives.
I bet Islam does.
Earlier this year, a British mini series titled “Lockerbie: A Search for Truth” starring Colin Firth aired on the Peacock channel. A new BBC drama series titled “The Bombing of Pan Am 103” begins tonight on British TV.
In April 1988, the U.S. Navy effectively destroyed the Iranian navy following a mine attack on the destroyer USS Roberts. The Navy sank an Iranian frigate, four armed speedboats, blew up two armed oil platforms, and damaged another frigate in one of the shortest and most successful campaigns of the postwar period.
Yet even today, there is no actual name attached to the engagement. It’s known simply as “Operation Praying Mantis,” not the obvious “Battle of the Persian Gulf.” ..
I remember that the Dutch (looks like Scottish authorities may have been behind the release) let the ringleader go home after a few years in custody. He then lived a life of luxury for almost 3 years before passing away from natural causes. He should have been hung, drawn, and quartered.
I lost a friend on that flight