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.
. The nose section of Pan Am Flight 103, a 747 airliner lies in a field outside the village of Lockerbie, Scotland, in this Dec. 22, 1988 file photo.
The nose section of Pan Am Flight 103, a 747 airliner lies in a field outside the village of Lockerbie, Scotland, in this Dec. 22, 1988 file photo. Photo: MARTIN CLEAVER
. 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
. 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
. 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
. 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
. In this file photo taken on December 22, 1988, the scene of devastation caused by the explosion of a 747 Pan Am Jumbo jet over Lockerbie, that crashed 21 December on the route to New-York, with 259 passengers on board. All 243 passengers and 16 crew members were killed as well as 11 Lockerbie residents. - A posthumous legal challenge to overturn the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Mohmet Al-Megrahi is due to begin in Scotland on November 24, 2020. Megrahi was the only person convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103, which was blown up as it travelled from London to New York over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988. A total of 270 people from 21 countries were killed -- 243 passengers, 16 crew, and 11 people on the ground -- in what remains Britain's biggest terrorist attack. (Photo by ROY LETKEY / AFP) (Photo by ROY LETKEY/AFP via Getty Images)
(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 22, 1988, the scene of devastation caused by the explosion of a 747 Pan Am Jumbo jet over Lockerbie, that crashed 21 December on the route to New-York, with 259 passengers on board. All 243 passengers and 16 crew members were killed as well as 11 Lockerbie residents. - A posthumous legal challenge to overturn the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Mohmet Al-Megrahi is due to begin in Scotland on November 24, 2020. Megrahi was the only person convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103, which was blown up as it travelled from London to New York over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988. A total of 270 people from 21 countries were killed -- 243 passengers, 16 crew, and 11 people on the ground -- in what remains Britain's biggest terrorist attack. (Photo by ROY LETKEY / AFP) (Photo by ROY LETKEY/AFP via Getty Images) Photo: ROY LETKEY
. Some of the Gordon Highlanders brought in to help search for more of the wrecked Pan Am jumbo jet, scouring Sherwood Crescent, the road most devastated by the Boeing 747 which crashed on Lockerbie. Eleven local people are believed to have died in their homes.
Some of the Gordon Highlanders brought in to help search for more of the wrecked Pan Am jumbo jet, scouring Sherwood Crescent, the road most devastated by the Boeing 747 which crashed on Lockerbie. Eleven local people are believed to have died in their homes. Photo: PA
. An aerial shot of property in Sherwood Park devastated by the wreckage of Pan Am flight 103, Boeing 747 airliner.
An aerial shot of property in Sherwood Park devastated by the wreckage of Pan Am flight 103, Boeing 747 airliner. Photo: Donald MacLeod
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