A cold night in December saw Pan Am flight 103 heading from Frankfurt to Detroit – via London and New York. Many of those onboard were heading home to spend Christmas with their families. The flightpath took the plane over the small Dumfries-shire town of Lockerbie. The aircraft operating the transatlantic leg of the route was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew. Large sections of the aircraft crashed onto a residential street in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 11 people on the ground. With a total of 270 fatalities, it is the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom.
1. Dawn comes up over the Borders town of Lockerbie, where Pan Am flight 103, a 747 Jumbo jet, crashed after a bomb exploded on board in December 1988. Picture shows Lockerbie sign.
Dawn comes up over the Borders town of Lockerbie, where Pan Am flight 103, a 747 Jumbo jet, crashed after a bomb exploded on board in December 1988. Picture shows Lockerbie sign. Photo: Joe Steele
2. In an effort to piece together evidence, mangled aeroplane seats are laid out in the streets at the Borders town of Lockerbie, where Pan Am flight 103, a 747 Jumbo jet, crashed after a bomb exploded on board in December 1988.
In an effort to piece together evidence, mangled aeroplane seats are laid out in the streets at the Borders town of Lockerbie, where Pan Am flight 103, a 747 Jumbo jet, crashed after a bomb exploded on board in December 1988. Photo: Joe Steele
3. Aerial of burnt-out houses in the Borders town of Lockerbie, where Pan Am flight 103, a 747 Jumbo jet, crashed after a bomb exploded on board in December 1988.
Aerial of burnt-out houses in the Borders town of Lockerbie, where Pan Am flight 103, a 747 Jumbo jet, crashed after a bomb exploded on board in December 1988. Photo: Hamish Campbell Allan Milligan
4. An exhausted RAF serviceman in the Borders town of Lockerbie, where Pan Am flight 103, a 747 Jumbo jet, crashed after a bomb exploded on board in December 1988.
An exhausted RAF serviceman in the Borders town of Lockerbie, where Pan Am flight 103, a 747 Jumbo jet, crashed after a bomb exploded on board in December 1988. Photo: Alan Macdonald