Pan Am Flight 103 departed from London’s Heathrow Airport, bound for New York City. However, just 40 minutes into the flight, the plane exploded 31,000 feet up in the skies above Lockerbie, Scotland. Evidence found at the scene of the crash led investigators to two Libyan intelligence operatives, who had constructed the bomb and had then concealed it in a cassette recorder and hid it in a suitcase which was then placed on board. Until the September 11, 2001 attacks, this attack was the deadliest terror attack on American civilians.—(FBI)
Date of event: December 21, 1988
Impact:
- 270 fatalities (189 American)
- Victims’ families awarded $3 billion settlement by Libyan government
Related Resources:
- Statement by the Press Secretary on Guilty Verdict in Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing Trial
- S. Hrg. 107-501: Reauthorization of the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act: Hearing before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, Firsst Session, June 28, 2001
- Justice Undone: The Release of the Lockerbie Bomber
HSDL Featured Topic: Global Terrorism
HSDL Search: Pan Am 103
Photo: (Credit: FBI) Investigators scan wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103