AIR CRASH INVESTIGATION

Air Crash Investigation: Lockerbie
Twenty years ago this month, all 259 people traveling on Pan Am Flight 103 were killed when the aircraft bound for New York exploded above the small Scottish town of Lockerbie. There were a further 11 deaths on the ground. Within a month of the chilling explosion, investigators discovered a piece of circuit board the size of a fingertip originating from a bomb. It was found to have come from within a suitcase in the plane’s luggage compartment. But who was responsible for this devastating terrorist act? From piecing together fragments of the plane’s wreckage to identifying charred bits of clothing from the same piece of luggage, we examine how experts had to journey to Germany, Malta and finally Libya, to identify, locate and unmask those behind the bombing. This special also explains why the Libyan government and the Pan Am airline were obliged to shoulder some of the responsibility for this devastating act of terrorism.