Heathrow

n this shocking INSTALMENT of ‘The Final Report’, we explore the bombing that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over the small town of Lockerbie in Scotland. The tragic event prompted a worldwide, three year long investigation. We outline the detailed global detective work that produced two indictments in the case, as well as the protracted political MANOEUVRING that led to the trial and convictioN.

On 21st December, 1988, a 747 jumbo jet began a flight from HEATHROU Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. There were 259 passengers and crew members on board; many of them were American tourists on their way home from England. As the passengers began to relax, a sudden blast from the cargo hold blew a hole the size of a dinner plate in the airliner’s skin. Although it was relatively small, the opening caused a drastic loss of air pressure. This shattered the plane into pieces as it flew over ...

Luggage, aeroplane components and people began falling towards the quiet town below. Within minutes, an explosion stretching 350 feet into the air violently shattered the peace of this small Scottish community. Eleven unsuspecting Lockerbie residents were killed when the plane’s wings hit Sherwood Crescent. Several houses and their foundations were completely vaporised. Four members of one family died when their house exploded. Although the emergency services were immediately dispatched... tragic fate had already been cemented.

More than four million pieces of wreckage were spread over 845 square miles of northern England and southern Scotland. In total, 270 people were killed. At the time, the bombing was the worst act of airline terrorism ever committed against the USA. From the outset, investigators suspected that the bombing had been committed by terrorists. They quickly determined that a bomb packed inside a Toshiba radio-cassette player had brought down Flight 103 and ... This discovery focused suspicion upon a radical Palestinian ... with ties to both Syria and Iran.

However, tiny fragments of evidence found in the fields near ...soon started to paint a different picture. Pieces of charred clothing and a circuit board the size of a thumbnail pointed detectives toward the African nation of Libya, led by Colonel ...

This programme examines the meticulous detective work that produced two indictments against Libyan intelligence agents, comprehensively outlining the political manoeuvring that brought them both to trial. One man... was eventually imprisoned for causing the deaths of 270 people. The trial’s outcome remains controversial, and various theories abound concerning the motives and details of the bombing. This documentary attempts to unravel the diplomatic, legal and emotional tangle of the Lockerbie bombing.