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.
Due to the incident happening so high up, 31000 feet, the ensuing debris and wreckage landed over a vast area. The surveys had to be carried out by military helicopters as the area to be covered was so big, even satellite pictures were used. In an odd way a stroke of luck meant that the plane's departure at London was delayed. So instead of the wreckage falling out to sea it fell on land.
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.
The analysis was a major operation which involved over 1000 people, scouring a lot of southern Scotland over several months. The military were called in to bolster the efforts, with manpower and equipment. The recovered debris was initially taken to a local school's gymnasium. Each piece was x-rayed and passed through 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.
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.
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.
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.
Due to the incident happening so high up, 31000 feet, the ensuing debris and wreckage landed over a vast area. The surveys had to be carried out by military helicopters as the area to be covered was so big, even satellite pictures were used. In an odd way a stroke of luck meant that the plane's departure at London was delayed. So instead of the wreckage falling out to sea it fell on land.
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.
The analysis was a major operation which involved over 1000 people, scouring a lot of southern Scotland over several months. The military were called in to bolster the efforts, with manpower and equipment. The recovered debris was initially taken to a local school's gymnasium. Each piece was x-rayed and passed through 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.
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.
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.
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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