It seems hard to believe that it was almost a quarter of a century ago that a terrorist attack brought a Scottish village to everyone's attention. The village's name was Lockerbie, and it claimed 270 lives. The Boeing 747 was only 38 minutes into its journey from London to New York when it exploded in midair. This is a brief look at the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation.
Due to the incident happening so high up, 31000 feet, the ensuing debris and wreckage landed over a vast area. The surveys had to be carried out by military helicopters as the area to be covered was so big, even satellite pictures were used. In an odd way a stroke of luck meant that the plane's departure at London was delayed. So instead of the wreckage falling out to sea it fell on land.
After finger tip searches more than ten thousand bits of debris were collected. Each one was listed and entered into a computer. Several major pieces came down on or near to this Scottish village. Two local boys found the black box voice recorder the next day near to some woods.
The whole proceedings involved more than a thousand people, and involved scouring large areas of southern Scotland for several months. The military became involved and helped with manpower and equipment. The local school's gymnasium was used as an initial collection point. Every item once logged was given an x-ray and scanned by a gas chromatograph.
Initially there was no clue about what had brought the aircraft down. After three days it started to become clear that it had been caused by an explosion, as traces of a Semtex type substance were being found. Also parts of an electronic timer were allegedly found amongst the debris.
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 recovered baggage containers all had damage expected following their fall from altitude. However there were two which also had some other unusual damage. By using the loading records they were able to determine their actual positions within the hold. Tests were carried out to see how much explosives would be needed to create the same damage, and also where it would be placed.
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.
Due to the incident happening so high up, 31000 feet, the ensuing debris and wreckage landed over a vast area. The surveys had to be carried out by military helicopters as the area to be covered was so big, even satellite pictures were used. In an odd way a stroke of luck meant that the plane's departure at London was delayed. So instead of the wreckage falling out to sea it fell on land.
After finger tip searches more than ten thousand bits of debris were collected. Each one was listed and entered into a computer. Several major pieces came down on or near to this Scottish village. Two local boys found the black box voice recorder the next day near to some woods.
The whole proceedings involved more than a thousand people, and involved scouring large areas of southern Scotland for several months. The military became involved and helped with manpower and equipment. The local school's gymnasium was used as an initial collection point. Every item once logged was given an x-ray and scanned by a gas chromatograph.
Initially there was no clue about what had brought the aircraft down. After three days it started to become clear that it had been caused by an explosion, as traces of a Semtex type substance were being found. Also parts of an electronic timer were allegedly found amongst the debris.
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 recovered baggage containers all had damage expected following their fall from altitude. However there were two which also had some other unusual damage. By using the loading records they were able to determine their actual positions within the hold. Tests were carried out to see how much explosives would be needed to create the same damage, and also where it would be placed.
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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