Pan Am Flight 103 Air Crash Investigation Report

By Lila Bryant


The mystery surrounding the Pan Am flight 103 disaster of Lockerbie in Scotland took years to solve. Investigators had to travel thousands of miles and transverse about 20 countries in search of necessary evidence. The conclusion made from the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation implicated Libyans with the terrorist act that claimed the lives of 259 inside the plane and 11 on the ground.

Investigations revealed that an explosion occurred about 31,000 feet above the ground. Investigators had to piece together all pieces in order to establish the truth. The American aviation industry had never experienced a disaster of this magnitude. The media focused a lot on the details of the entire process.

Investigators spent years collecting evidence and piecing it together before concluding that Libyans were involved. The two suspects were Baset Abdel and Khalifa Al-Amin. The judge concluded that Khalifa was not culpable according to the evidence presented and therefore set him free. The government of Libya was ordered to pay a total of 2.7 billion dollars as compensation because the blame lay on Abdel Baset who was sentenced to death.

Investigations were led by UK Air Accident Investigation Branch. This is the body responsible for accidents within the UK air space. Over 4 million pieces of debris were gathered in the course of investigations. The debris was scattered over 2000 square kilometers. Computers were used in simulation and labeling of parts collected as evidence.

The crash took a criminal turn when it emerged that terrorism was the cause. Investigators found PETN and RDX chemical compounds at the scene. This was blamed for the Semtex explosion that caused the crush. A combined team of FBI, Scotland Yard and local police carried out the investigations. The bomb is suspected to have been boarded at Frankfurt.

American took keen interest in this inquiry because of fatalities suffered in the disaster. A total of 189 Americans died on board. This was said to be the worst disaster in American history involving the aviation industry. The next disasters to claim such a number of people was the 9/11 attack on Twin Towers. Testimonies were collected from 15,000 people with over 3,500 photos being presented as evidence. The exhibits totaled 180,000. The expenses for this inquiry surpassed any in history.

The total expenditure during investigations totaled over 60 million dollars. The trial was another record with more than 230 witnesses being summoned to testify in proceedings that lasted 89 days. The transcripts for this trial went up to 10,000 pages and more. Libya denied the accusation that it sanctioned, planned and financed the attack. They claimed that political convenience had led authorities to lay the blame on them. This allowed the theory that Palestinians were responsible instead under the direction of Iran.

Iran was said to harbor a grudge against America for killing 290 of her citizens in the Persian Gulf sometime back. This was a reason enough to cause them to bring down the plane. Libya conceded to the blame and paid compensation after suctions were imposed. Such turn of events and variety of theories make it difficult to find the truth about this disaster.




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