The mystery surrounding the Pan Am flight 103 disaster of Lockerbie in Scotland took years to solve. Investigators had to travel thousands of miles and transverse about 20 countries in search of necessary evidence. The conclusion made from the Pan Am flight 103 air crash investigation implicated Libyans with the terrorist act that claimed the lives of 259 inside the plane and 11 on the ground.
Experts concluded that at the time of the explosion, the plane must have been traveling at a height of 31,000 feet. Libya took the blame for the act which was termed at terrorism. The debris was reassembled in a warehouse to establish the cause of this disaster. It is considered the worst attack in the history of American aviation. A lot of media attention was focused on every small detail of these investigations.
The conclusion that Libya was involved resulted from evidence gathered from all areas. The blame was laid of two Libyans, Khalifa Al-Amin and Abdel Baset. After prosecution and the defense had presented their case, Khalifa was acquainted while Baset got a life sentence for the terrorist act. Authorities in Libya were compelled to pay damages totaling 2.7 billion dollars.
Investigations were led by the UK Air Accident Investigation branch. They took over the responsibility because the accident occurred in within their airspace. A whopping 4 million pieces of debris and evidence were collected with the entire accident area covering over 2000 square kilometers. Computer simulations were necessary in documenting and ordering the pieces.
Involvement of terrorists brought a new dimension into the probe. Investigators found PETN and RDX chemicals which cause Semtex explosion. A combined team of local police, Scotland Yard and FBI carried out the investigations. The bomb could have gained its way into the plane at Frankfurt.
American took keen interest in this inquiry because of fatalities suffered in the disaster. A total of 189 Americans died on board. This was said to be the worst disaster in American history involving the aviation industry. The next disasters to claim such a number of people was the 9/11 attack on Twin Towers. Testimonies were collected from 15,000 people with over 3,500 photos being presented as evidence. The exhibits totaled 180,000. The expenses for this inquiry surpassed any in history.
The total expenditure during investigations totaled over 60 million dollars. The trial was another record with more than 230 witnesses being summoned to testify in proceedings that lasted 89 days. The transcripts for this trial went up to 10,000 pages and more. Libya denied the accusation that it sanctioned, planned and financed the attack. They claimed that political convenience had led authorities to lay the blame on them. This allowed the theory that Palestinians were responsible instead under the direction of Iran.
The possibility that Iran was responsible was heightened by the fact that they had a long standing conflict with American. American had grounded an Iranian plane which killed to 290 Iranians on board in the Persian Gulf. It took international sanctions to compel Libya into accepting responsibility. The politics surrounding the disaster makes it difficult to know the truth.
Experts concluded that at the time of the explosion, the plane must have been traveling at a height of 31,000 feet. Libya took the blame for the act which was termed at terrorism. The debris was reassembled in a warehouse to establish the cause of this disaster. It is considered the worst attack in the history of American aviation. A lot of media attention was focused on every small detail of these investigations.
The conclusion that Libya was involved resulted from evidence gathered from all areas. The blame was laid of two Libyans, Khalifa Al-Amin and Abdel Baset. After prosecution and the defense had presented their case, Khalifa was acquainted while Baset got a life sentence for the terrorist act. Authorities in Libya were compelled to pay damages totaling 2.7 billion dollars.
Investigations were led by the UK Air Accident Investigation branch. They took over the responsibility because the accident occurred in within their airspace. A whopping 4 million pieces of debris and evidence were collected with the entire accident area covering over 2000 square kilometers. Computer simulations were necessary in documenting and ordering the pieces.
Involvement of terrorists brought a new dimension into the probe. Investigators found PETN and RDX chemicals which cause Semtex explosion. A combined team of local police, Scotland Yard and FBI carried out the investigations. The bomb could have gained its way into the plane at Frankfurt.
American took keen interest in this inquiry because of fatalities suffered in the disaster. A total of 189 Americans died on board. This was said to be the worst disaster in American history involving the aviation industry. The next disasters to claim such a number of people was the 9/11 attack on Twin Towers. Testimonies were collected from 15,000 people with over 3,500 photos being presented as evidence. The exhibits totaled 180,000. The expenses for this inquiry surpassed any in history.
The total expenditure during investigations totaled over 60 million dollars. The trial was another record with more than 230 witnesses being summoned to testify in proceedings that lasted 89 days. The transcripts for this trial went up to 10,000 pages and more. Libya denied the accusation that it sanctioned, planned and financed the attack. They claimed that political convenience had led authorities to lay the blame on them. This allowed the theory that Palestinians were responsible instead under the direction of Iran.
The possibility that Iran was responsible was heightened by the fact that they had a long standing conflict with American. American had grounded an Iranian plane which killed to 290 Iranians on board in the Persian Gulf. It took international sanctions to compel Libya into accepting responsibility. The politics surrounding the disaster makes it difficult to know the truth.
About the Author:
You can visit www.threesistersponds.com for more helpful information about Pan Am Flight 103 Air Crash Investigation Findings.
0 comments:
Post a Comment