Posted on 12/16/2023 3:20:42 PM PST by RandFan
Thirty-five years ago this week the deadliest terror attack in British history took place when Pan Am flight 103 from London to New York exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
In a prison cell in the United States, 72-year-old Abu Agila Masud is waiting to stand trial, accused of making the bomb that destroyed the US airliner.
The prospect of the Libyan's trial has been accompanied by a renewed surge of interest in the events of 21 December 1988.
At its heart lies an atrocity which killed 270 men, women and children from 21 countries. Entire families died on the plane and on the ground.
An account of the investigation that followed reads like the ultimate true crime detective story.
Everyone on board Pan Am Flight 103 that night was killed; 259 passengers and crew. The oldest was 82, the youngest was a two-month-old baby.
Two thirds of the victims were Americans. It was the worst terror attack on the US until 9/11.
Another 11 people perished when the wreckage fell on their homes in Lockerbie. In total, 44 UK citizens were killed. It remains the worst act of mass murder in British legal history.
There will always be competing theories about who was responsible but only one version of events has been accepted by a court of law and upheld on appeal.
In 2001, a Scottish court sitting in the neutral Netherlands ruled it was an act of state-sponsored terrorism carried out by the Libyan intelligence service.
Three judges decided Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was part of the plot and convicted him of playing a central role in the bombing.
He became known as "the Lockerbie bomber" but he was always accused of acting along with other Libyan conspirators, including Abu Agila Masud, the man now facing trial in the US.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
I do. I also recall this is what prompted Ronald Reagan to bomb Kadaffi’s tent compound with the new stealth F-117 Nighthawks resulting in Kadaffi rethinking terrorism.
No, the first use of F-117s was Panama a year later. We used F-111s against Kaddafi.
On that day, I was Space-A out of Frankfurt for an event in the states. Christmas travel clogged the works. Almost took some advice to buy a civilian ticket. Only one seat left leaving for London - Pan Am. I declined. I would’ve been on Flight 103 to NY. Got a call from a relative later that day - heard about a crash.
Correct.
Much of the attacks I. Libya were by F-111s from England and F-18s from carriers.
April of 1986. What a year. IIRC the Challenger accident was January.
(attacks ON Libya)
Phone 📱📱📱📱!!!!!!
autocorrect 😜 sigh 😔
35 of the victims were students at my alma mater. They had been visiting Europe on a program that was created by the mother of a childhood friend.
After the Lockerbie bombing, her program ceased to exist. She had spent about twenty years building it up. Now its name appears to have been scrubbed from the internet.
From what I can tell, a relevant question is were there ever any major airline crashes that were not planned and orchestrated by the deep state cabal?
“”bomb Kadaffi’s tent compound””
Supposedly a daughter of his was killed in that bombing. I can’t remember who wrote about the flight of the bombers and the time spent/wasted trying to get and being denied permission to overfly a country to achieve that bombing?
That is something you will never forget. I bet you’ve listened to your gut every day since then!
I remember it. ...And wasn’t one of the bombers returned to Libya as a humanitarian because he was supposedly at death’s door? Then went on to live for many years afterwards as essentially a free man? Or was that a bomber involved in a different incident?
I’m going by memory here and I thought it was the F-117’s that hit the compound and killed his baby daughter. My mistake.
“”35 of the victims were students at my alma mater.””
Wasn’t that an upstate NY university? Or am I thinking of a book written by perhaps Vince Flynn and that terrorist act folded into the story - hero Mitch Rapp lost a sweetheart in the crash? Hard to keep books/stories straight!
IIRC, France denied the US permission for the F111s to fly over France. They instead went over or around Spain, necessitating a lot of mid-air refueling. A long, tiring flight to the target and then the same thing for the return.
“”And wasn’t one of the bombers returned to Libya as a humanitarian because he was supposedly at death’s door? Then went on to live for many years afterwards as essentially a free man? Or was that a bomber involved in a different incident?””
You’re having the same trouble I am - trying to remember exact details.. I do recall the report that you spoke about.
I did about the same. I had spent a couple of weeks in Frankfurt and was headed home that same weekend. I generally used Lufthansa or Pan Am, which ever had the most convenient times for me. Those were the times where you could use any ticket on any airline for the same destination. I had a Lufthansa ticket to Detroit om Friday. Friends there tried to convince me to switch tickets and stay until Sunday. At the last minute, I chose to go on Friday. I’m not sure which airline I would have used if I had waited until Sunday.
I remember. I lost two college classmates, both very well liked. They were part of a semester exchange program of around 30 students on that flight. Horrible. I never thought terrorism would hit so close. I still often think about those poor girls, their final moments, and their families.
“”IIRC, France denied the US permission for the F111s to fly over France””
I’m glad someone else recalls the incident and it probably was France - sounds like something they’d do!! Thanks for chiming in - I’m having trouble remembering back that far!!
A lot of water over the dam or under the bridge since then!
Syracuse University, right?
Syracuse U sponsored it. Most were Syracuse students but some who were part of the program attended other schools like my two classmates.
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