Investigators sort to establish what happened 38 minutes after takeoff that lead to the death of 270 people on board the Pan Am flight 103. This mystery guided the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation with the center of focus being Lockerbie in Scotland. Preliminary findings indicated that a bomb had been hidden at the cargo section in a way that was concealed from the crew in charge. Of the 270 who died, 259 were crew and passengers traveling to New York while 11 died at the site of the crash.
The bomb could have exploded 31,000 feet in the sky while the plane was cruising. Libyans were implicated in what was described as a terrorist attack. Investigators pieced together the debris in a warehouse to help with investigations. This was the largest plane attack in history and explains why there was a lot of media attention. It led to an unprecedented loss of life.
Investigators sifted through evidence and presentations for three years before implicating two Libyans. They were Al Amin Khalifa and Abdel Baset. The evidence presented during the trial of these two individuals did not implicated Khalifa. This led to his release while Al-Amin was sent to prison for life. Libya took responsibility and paid a total of 2.7 billion dollars in fines.
UK Air Accident Investigation Branch took over investigations as it was its responsibility and mandate considering that the crash happened in UK air space. 4 million pieces of debris were collected from an area covering 2000 square kilometers. The team had to use computer documentation to piece together the debris.
Investigations took a criminal angle when the bomb theory care to fore. There were traces of PETN and RDX, chemicals that cause Semtex explosions. The bomb was said to have been entered in Frankfurt. Investigators were drawn from the FBI, Scotland Yard and local police.
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 total expenditure for the trial was a record breaking 60 million dollars. No other trial in history has cost that much. 230 witnesses stood before the judges to give their testimonies. Transcriptions for the entire trial totaled over 10,000 pages which were written over the 89 days that testimonies were given. There is a theory that the real perpetrators of the crime were never caught. The politics of Iran, Palestine and America complicated the process of revealing the truth. The theory states that Iran paid some Palestinian individuals to bring down the plane.
Iran had a reason to bring down the plane because they had a feud with America. America is said to have caused the death of 290 Iranian civilians in the Persian Gulf. Libya refused to take responsibility until it was forced through UN sanctions. There is a feeling that the truth was never revealed and thus will never be known.
The bomb could have exploded 31,000 feet in the sky while the plane was cruising. Libyans were implicated in what was described as a terrorist attack. Investigators pieced together the debris in a warehouse to help with investigations. This was the largest plane attack in history and explains why there was a lot of media attention. It led to an unprecedented loss of life.
Investigators sifted through evidence and presentations for three years before implicating two Libyans. They were Al Amin Khalifa and Abdel Baset. The evidence presented during the trial of these two individuals did not implicated Khalifa. This led to his release while Al-Amin was sent to prison for life. Libya took responsibility and paid a total of 2.7 billion dollars in fines.
UK Air Accident Investigation Branch took over investigations as it was its responsibility and mandate considering that the crash happened in UK air space. 4 million pieces of debris were collected from an area covering 2000 square kilometers. The team had to use computer documentation to piece together the debris.
Investigations took a criminal angle when the bomb theory care to fore. There were traces of PETN and RDX, chemicals that cause Semtex explosions. The bomb was said to have been entered in Frankfurt. Investigators were drawn from the FBI, Scotland Yard and local police.
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 total expenditure for the trial was a record breaking 60 million dollars. No other trial in history has cost that much. 230 witnesses stood before the judges to give their testimonies. Transcriptions for the entire trial totaled over 10,000 pages which were written over the 89 days that testimonies were given. There is a theory that the real perpetrators of the crime were never caught. The politics of Iran, Palestine and America complicated the process of revealing the truth. The theory states that Iran paid some Palestinian individuals to bring down the plane.
Iran had a reason to bring down the plane because they had a feud with America. America is said to have caused the death of 290 Iranian civilians in the Persian Gulf. Libya refused to take responsibility until it was forced through UN sanctions. There is a feeling that the truth was never revealed and thus will never be known.
No comments:
Post a Comment