Later this year it will be 25 years since a Scottish village was thrust into the world's spotlight due to terrorism. That village is Lockerbie, and the act of terrorism caused the loss of 270 lives. Only 38 minutes into a journey between London and New York, the Jumbo Jet exploded in midair killing all of those onboard. This is a shortened account of the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation.
As the explosion took place at 31,000 feet the wreckage and debris was spread over a wide area. The area was so vast that not only were surveys conducted by helicopter, but also satellite imagery was used. In one way it was fortunate that the aircraft's departure had been delayed, as that meant that the wreckage was recoverable. Had it been on time then the debris would have fallen over the ocean and the ensuing analysis would have been severely hampered.
After finger tip searches more than ten thousand bits of debris were collected. Each one was listed and entered into a computer. Several major pieces came down on or near to this Scottish village. Two local boys found the black box voice recorder the next day near to some woods.
The whole proceedings involved more than a thousand people, and involved scouring large areas of southern Scotland for several months. The military became involved and helped with manpower and equipment. The local school's gymnasium was used as an initial collection point. Every item once logged was given an x-ray and scanned by a gas chromatograph.
In the early stages there were no clues about what had caused the incident. From material collected over the next couple of days it became clear that an explosion had occurred. Traces of a Semtex like substance were being detected. It is also claimed that pieces of an electronic timing device were located amongst the wreckage.
Through painstaking efforts by air accident investigators the fuselage was slowly reconstructed. It was discovered that a 20 inch square section of fuselage had been severely damaged by an explosion. This was in an area adjacent to the forward cargo hold.
The baggage containers were mainly consistent with damage that would be expected from a fall of great height. However two of them showed unusual damage patterns. Their exact positions were found from the loading records. Tests were carried out in America to determine the exact quantity and location of explosives to cause the same 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.
As the explosion took place at 31,000 feet the wreckage and debris was spread over a wide area. The area was so vast that not only were surveys conducted by helicopter, but also satellite imagery was used. In one way it was fortunate that the aircraft's departure had been delayed, as that meant that the wreckage was recoverable. Had it been on time then the debris would have fallen over the ocean and the ensuing analysis would have been severely hampered.
After finger tip searches more than ten thousand bits of debris were collected. Each one was listed and entered into a computer. Several major pieces came down on or near to this Scottish village. Two local boys found the black box voice recorder the next day near to some woods.
The whole proceedings involved more than a thousand people, and involved scouring large areas of southern Scotland for several months. The military became involved and helped with manpower and equipment. The local school's gymnasium was used as an initial collection point. Every item once logged was given an x-ray and scanned by a gas chromatograph.
In the early stages there were no clues about what had caused the incident. From material collected over the next couple of days it became clear that an explosion had occurred. Traces of a Semtex like substance were being detected. It is also claimed that pieces of an electronic timing device were located amongst the wreckage.
Through painstaking efforts by air accident investigators the fuselage was slowly reconstructed. It was discovered that a 20 inch square section of fuselage had been severely damaged by an explosion. This was in an area adjacent to the forward cargo hold.
The baggage containers were mainly consistent with damage that would be expected from a fall of great height. However two of them showed unusual damage patterns. Their exact positions were found from the loading records. Tests were carried out in America to determine the exact quantity and location of explosives to cause the same 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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