Almost a quarter of a century ago a small Scottish village became known throughout the world because of an act of terrorism. The name of that village was Lockerbie, and that terrorist act claimed 270 lives. The Jumbo Jet was just over half an hour into its flight, from London's Heathrow to New York's JFK, when an explosion took place. Following is an abbreviated look at the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation.
The aircraft was at flight level 310, or 31,000 feet, when the incident occurred and as a consequence debris was strewn over a huge area. In fact the area was so large that not only were military helicopters used for surveying the area, but the investigating teams also used satellite images. It can be said that the delayed departure allowed such a detailed analysis to take place. Had everything been on schedule then the explosion would have occurred over the Atlantic Ocean.
In total over 10,000 pieces of debris were recovered, and these were all catalogued and logged into a computer system. There were several large components which had fallen on or around the village of Lockerbie. The following day the flight data recorder, the infamous black box, was found close to some woods by a couple of local boys.
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.
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.
With more to work with the fuselage section was slowly pieced back together by members of the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch. Through their efforts they determined that an area on the fuselage, approximately 20 square inches in size had been near to the seat of the explosion. It was an area next to the forward cargo hold.
The baggage containers from the hold were mainly damaged in a way consistent with a fall from a great height. However two also showed other unexplained damage. From the cargo loading records it was possible to pinpoint their positions within the hold. Over in America tests were being conducted to determine how much explosives, and the location, would cause identical blast damage.
From this information not only were the investigators able to trace every item of luggage within that baggage container, but also which one was the suspect item. They even deduced the contents through recovered fragments of clothing. Which lead them to Sliema, Malta. Thanks to a trader one of the prime suspects was a man he identified as the person he had sold the clothes to.
In total the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation took over three years to complete. It had involved agencies of many different nations, but primarily those of the United Kingdom and America. As with all such incidents everything was examined in minute detail, and the perpetrators were sent for trial in a neutral country.
The aircraft was at flight level 310, or 31,000 feet, when the incident occurred and as a consequence debris was strewn over a huge area. In fact the area was so large that not only were military helicopters used for surveying the area, but the investigating teams also used satellite images. It can be said that the delayed departure allowed such a detailed analysis to take place. Had everything been on schedule then the explosion would have occurred over the Atlantic Ocean.
In total over 10,000 pieces of debris were recovered, and these were all catalogued and logged into a computer system. There were several large components which had fallen on or around the village of Lockerbie. The following day the flight data recorder, the infamous black box, was found close to some woods by a couple of local boys.
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.
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.
With more to work with the fuselage section was slowly pieced back together by members of the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch. Through their efforts they determined that an area on the fuselage, approximately 20 square inches in size had been near to the seat of the explosion. It was an area next to the forward cargo hold.
The baggage containers from the hold were mainly damaged in a way consistent with a fall from a great height. However two also showed other unexplained damage. From the cargo loading records it was possible to pinpoint their positions within the hold. Over in America tests were being conducted to determine how much explosives, and the location, would cause identical blast damage.
From this information not only were the investigators able to trace every item of luggage within that baggage container, but also which one was the suspect item. They even deduced the contents through recovered fragments of clothing. Which lead them to Sliema, Malta. Thanks to a trader one of the prime suspects was a man he identified as the person he had sold the clothes to.
In total the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation took over three years to complete. It had involved agencies of many different nations, but primarily those of the United Kingdom and America. As with all such incidents everything was examined in minute detail, and the perpetrators were sent for trial in a neutral country.
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