It seems hard to believe that it was almost a quarter of a century ago that a terrorist attack brought a Scottish village to everyone's attention. The village's name was Lockerbie, and it claimed 270 lives. The Boeing 747 was only 38 minutes into its journey from London to New York when it exploded in midair. This is a brief look at the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation.
The aircraft was at flight level 310, or 31,000 feet, when the incident occurred and as a consequence debris was strewn over a huge area. In fact the area was so large that not only were military helicopters used for surveying the area, but the investigating teams also used satellite images. It can be said that the delayed departure allowed such a detailed analysis to take place. Had everything been on schedule then the explosion would have occurred over the Atlantic Ocean.
More than ten thousand items of debris were collected. Every single one was tagged and logged into a computer program. Even some major structures which had fallen on or around Lockerbie itself. The flight data recorder was discovered the next day, by a pair of boys who found it near to some woods.
More than a thousand people became involved with this analysis, it was a huge operation and a large part of southern Scotland was searched. Even the military were called on to help with manpower and equipment. Any item which was recovered went to the local school's gymnasium. There it was subjected to x-rays and looked at with a gas chromatograph.
Initially there was no clue about what had brought the aircraft down. After three days it started to become clear that it had been caused by an explosion, as traces of a Semtex type substance were being found. Also parts of an electronic timer were allegedly found amongst the debris.
The UK's AAIB slowly, and with great care, began the process of reconstructing the plane's fuselage section. As a result they were able to determine the location of the explosion, as an area of 20 square inches had severe blast damage. This was located alongside the forward hold area.
The baggage containers from the hold were mainly damaged in a way consistent with a fall from a great height. However two also showed other unexplained damage. From the cargo loading records it was possible to pinpoint their positions within the hold. Over in America tests were being conducted to determine how much explosives, and the location, would cause identical blast damage.
Piece by piece it was possible for the investigators to state which piece of luggage held the explosive device. Also what it contained. From clothing labels they were able to narrow the point of origin to Malta. They were even able to interview the merchant who sold the clothes. In his statements he described, and later identified, the person who had bought the clothes.
In total the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation took over three years to complete. It had involved agencies of many different nations, but primarily those of the United Kingdom and America. As with all such incidents everything was examined in minute detail, and the perpetrators were sent for trial in a neutral country.
The aircraft was at flight level 310, or 31,000 feet, when the incident occurred and as a consequence debris was strewn over a huge area. In fact the area was so large that not only were military helicopters used for surveying the area, but the investigating teams also used satellite images. It can be said that the delayed departure allowed such a detailed analysis to take place. Had everything been on schedule then the explosion would have occurred over the Atlantic Ocean.
More than ten thousand items of debris were collected. Every single one was tagged and logged into a computer program. Even some major structures which had fallen on or around Lockerbie itself. The flight data recorder was discovered the next day, by a pair of boys who found it near to some woods.
More than a thousand people became involved with this analysis, it was a huge operation and a large part of southern Scotland was searched. Even the military were called on to help with manpower and equipment. Any item which was recovered went to the local school's gymnasium. There it was subjected to x-rays and looked at with a gas chromatograph.
Initially there was no clue about what had brought the aircraft down. After three days it started to become clear that it had been caused by an explosion, as traces of a Semtex type substance were being found. Also parts of an electronic timer were allegedly found amongst the debris.
The UK's AAIB slowly, and with great care, began the process of reconstructing the plane's fuselage section. As a result they were able to determine the location of the explosion, as an area of 20 square inches had severe blast damage. This was located alongside the forward hold area.
The baggage containers from the hold were mainly damaged in a way consistent with a fall from a great height. However two also showed other unexplained damage. From the cargo loading records it was possible to pinpoint their positions within the hold. Over in America tests were being conducted to determine how much explosives, and the location, would cause identical blast damage.
Piece by piece it was possible for the investigators to state which piece of luggage held the explosive device. Also what it contained. From clothing labels they were able to narrow the point of origin to Malta. They were even able to interview the merchant who sold the clothes. In his statements he described, and later identified, the person who had bought the clothes.
In total the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation took over three years to complete. It had involved agencies of many different nations, but primarily those of the United Kingdom and America. As with all such incidents everything was examined in minute detail, and the perpetrators were sent for trial in a neutral country.
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