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.
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.
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 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 all of this information it was possible for the investigators to identify which suitcase held the suspect device, and even what it contained. It had begun its journey in Malta, as identified from some items of clothing. They even managed to trace the merchant in Sliema in Malta. He identified one of the chief suspects as the man he had sold the clothes to.
The Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation took more than 3 years to complete. Agencies from various countries assisted throughout, but it was mainly overseen by those from the UK and America. Thanks to their diligence the suspects were sent for trial, which was held in Holland.
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.
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 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 all of this information it was possible for the investigators to identify which suitcase held the suspect device, and even what it contained. It had begun its journey in Malta, as identified from some items of clothing. They even managed to trace the merchant in Sliema in Malta. He identified one of the chief suspects as the man he had sold the clothes to.
The Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation took more than 3 years to complete. Agencies from various countries assisted throughout, but it was mainly overseen by those from the UK and America. Thanks to their diligence the suspects were sent for trial, which was held in Holland.
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