The Pan Am Flight 103 crashed on its way to Detroit from Frankfurt via London and became a center for investigations for years that followed. The Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation covered 20 countries and sort to establish what occurred over the small town of Lockerbie in Scotland that brought down the plane. By the time it was coming down, it had 259 people on board. The number of deaths hit 270 because 11 people died on the ground. Initial findings indicated that a bomb had been planted in the luggage section, most probably in Frankfurt.
The plane was traveling 31,000 feet when the bomb exploded. Investigations revealed that Libyan terrorists were responsible. The conclusions followed the gathering of thousands of pieces and information about the plane. It had to be reassembled in a warehouse to establish major facts. This was billed to be the most dangerous attacks in history and attracted a lot of attention.
Investigators sifted through evidence and presentations for three years before implicating two Libyans. They were Al Amin Khalifa and Abdel Baset. The evidence presented during the trial of these two individuals did not implicated Khalifa. This led to his release while Al-Amin was sent to prison for life. Libya took responsibility and paid a total of 2.7 billion dollars in fines.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch in UK handles all accidents on its airspace. They took over the case and combed an area of approximate 2000 square kilometers where they collected over 4million pieces of debris. They had to use the support of computers to document every piece that was collected.
Investigations took a criminal angle when the bomb theory care to fore. There were traces of PETN and RDX, chemicals that cause Semtex explosions. The bomb was said to have been entered in Frankfurt. Investigators were drawn from the FBI, Scotland Yard and local police.
American was interested in the investigations because 189 of the 270 who died were Americans. This was the most deadly attack on her citizens and would only be overtaken by the 9/11 which took place years later. The trial saw 180,000 pieces presented as evidence which included 3,500 photos. There were testimonies of 15,000 people. The countries involved totaled 20 with a conclusion that saw sanctions on Libya to compel them to accept responsibility and pay.
The investigations and trial broke the record for the most expensive exercise. A total of 60 million dollars was spent with 230 people presenting their evidence in person. Court transcripts topped 10,000 pages with the entire trial taking a record 89 days. There was a claim that the trials took a political angle which dimmed any hopes of finding the truth. Libya was claimed to be a scapegoat while the real perpetrators were Iranians with the aid of Palestinians.
Iran entered into the picture because 290 of its citizen civilians were killed in the Persian Gulf when America brought down its plane. It is also believed that Libya was coerced into taking responsibility for political reasons. Some powers sort to make political or ideological gains by implicating Libya. This means that the truth about the crush may never be known.
The plane was traveling 31,000 feet when the bomb exploded. Investigations revealed that Libyan terrorists were responsible. The conclusions followed the gathering of thousands of pieces and information about the plane. It had to be reassembled in a warehouse to establish major facts. This was billed to be the most dangerous attacks in history and attracted a lot of attention.
Investigators sifted through evidence and presentations for three years before implicating two Libyans. They were Al Amin Khalifa and Abdel Baset. The evidence presented during the trial of these two individuals did not implicated Khalifa. This led to his release while Al-Amin was sent to prison for life. Libya took responsibility and paid a total of 2.7 billion dollars in fines.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch in UK handles all accidents on its airspace. They took over the case and combed an area of approximate 2000 square kilometers where they collected over 4million pieces of debris. They had to use the support of computers to document every piece that was collected.
Investigations took a criminal angle when the bomb theory care to fore. There were traces of PETN and RDX, chemicals that cause Semtex explosions. The bomb was said to have been entered in Frankfurt. Investigators were drawn from the FBI, Scotland Yard and local police.
American was interested in the investigations because 189 of the 270 who died were Americans. This was the most deadly attack on her citizens and would only be overtaken by the 9/11 which took place years later. The trial saw 180,000 pieces presented as evidence which included 3,500 photos. There were testimonies of 15,000 people. The countries involved totaled 20 with a conclusion that saw sanctions on Libya to compel them to accept responsibility and pay.
The investigations and trial broke the record for the most expensive exercise. A total of 60 million dollars was spent with 230 people presenting their evidence in person. Court transcripts topped 10,000 pages with the entire trial taking a record 89 days. There was a claim that the trials took a political angle which dimmed any hopes of finding the truth. Libya was claimed to be a scapegoat while the real perpetrators were Iranians with the aid of Palestinians.
Iran entered into the picture because 290 of its citizen civilians were killed in the Persian Gulf when America brought down its plane. It is also believed that Libya was coerced into taking responsibility for political reasons. Some powers sort to make political or ideological gains by implicating Libya. This means that the truth about the crush may never be known.
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