The Pan Am Flight 103 crashed on its way to Detroit from Frankfurt via London and became a center for investigations for years that followed. The Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation covered 20 countries and sort to establish what occurred over the small town of Lockerbie in Scotland that brought down the plane. By the time it was coming down, it had 259 people on board. The number of deaths hit 270 because 11 people died on the ground. Initial findings indicated that a bomb had been planted in the luggage section, most probably in Frankfurt.
At the time the bomb went off, the plane is said to have been cruising 31,000 feet in the sky. The report implicated Libyan terrorists. The conclusion was as a result of thousands of pieces of debris collected from the site and information from other sources. Investigators assembled the plane in a warehouse to aid in identifying the location of the bomb. The crash attracted the attention of world media because of the nature of attack and magnitude of loss.
It took three years for prosecutors to piece together the evidence presented before concluding that Libyans were involved. The two persons implicated with planning were Abdel Baset and Khalifa Al-Amin. After the cases were presented before the judges, the verdict exonerated Khalifa while Baset was found guilty and sentenced to serve life in prison. The judges also ruled that Libya should take responsibility for the act and pay 2.7 billion dollars.
Investigations involving accidents in UK are handled by Air Accident Investigation Branch. They took responsibility of this one too. The area covered by the debris extended around 2000 square kilometers where about 4million pieces were collected. They were recorded in computers for easy identification.
The idea of a bomb led investigators to term the crush as a criminal act. This is where they were led to believe that luggage was used to plant it at the cargo section. It was suspected that the luggage was boarded in Frankfurt. The remains had traces of RDX and PETN chemicals which cause Semtex explosion. The team of investigators included local police, Scotland Yard and FBI.
The entry of Americans into the investigations was because of the 189 citizens who formed part of the 270 people on board. Such a huge figure of deaths was only overtaken by the terrorist attack on 9/11. Court proceedings witnessed the presentation of 3,500 photos, 180,000 pieces as evidence and the testimonies of 15,000 people. 20 countries were covered during investigation. Libya took responsibility after UN imposed sanctions.
The investigations and trial broke the record for the most expensive exercise. A total of 60 million dollars was spent with 230 people presenting their evidence in person. Court transcripts topped 10,000 pages with the entire trial taking a record 89 days. There was a claim that the trials took a political angle which dimmed any hopes of finding the truth. Libya was claimed to be a scapegoat while the real perpetrators were Iranians with the aid of Palestinians.
The conflict between Iran and America brought a dark cloud over the investigations with Libya being used as a scapegoat. This explains why it took a very long time and UN sanctions to accept responsibilities. Some people feel that the truth will never be known.
At the time the bomb went off, the plane is said to have been cruising 31,000 feet in the sky. The report implicated Libyan terrorists. The conclusion was as a result of thousands of pieces of debris collected from the site and information from other sources. Investigators assembled the plane in a warehouse to aid in identifying the location of the bomb. The crash attracted the attention of world media because of the nature of attack and magnitude of loss.
It took three years for prosecutors to piece together the evidence presented before concluding that Libyans were involved. The two persons implicated with planning were Abdel Baset and Khalifa Al-Amin. After the cases were presented before the judges, the verdict exonerated Khalifa while Baset was found guilty and sentenced to serve life in prison. The judges also ruled that Libya should take responsibility for the act and pay 2.7 billion dollars.
Investigations involving accidents in UK are handled by Air Accident Investigation Branch. They took responsibility of this one too. The area covered by the debris extended around 2000 square kilometers where about 4million pieces were collected. They were recorded in computers for easy identification.
The idea of a bomb led investigators to term the crush as a criminal act. This is where they were led to believe that luggage was used to plant it at the cargo section. It was suspected that the luggage was boarded in Frankfurt. The remains had traces of RDX and PETN chemicals which cause Semtex explosion. The team of investigators included local police, Scotland Yard and FBI.
The entry of Americans into the investigations was because of the 189 citizens who formed part of the 270 people on board. Such a huge figure of deaths was only overtaken by the terrorist attack on 9/11. Court proceedings witnessed the presentation of 3,500 photos, 180,000 pieces as evidence and the testimonies of 15,000 people. 20 countries were covered during investigation. Libya took responsibility after UN imposed sanctions.
The investigations and trial broke the record for the most expensive exercise. A total of 60 million dollars was spent with 230 people presenting their evidence in person. Court transcripts topped 10,000 pages with the entire trial taking a record 89 days. There was a claim that the trials took a political angle which dimmed any hopes of finding the truth. Libya was claimed to be a scapegoat while the real perpetrators were Iranians with the aid of Palestinians.
The conflict between Iran and America brought a dark cloud over the investigations with Libya being used as a scapegoat. This explains why it took a very long time and UN sanctions to accept responsibilities. Some people feel that the truth will never be known.
About the Author:
You can visit www.threesistersponds.com for more helpful information about Pan Am Flight 103 Air Crash Investigation Report.
No comments:
Post a Comment