Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground. The Boeing 747, flying from London's Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, was destroyed when a bomb was detonated in its forward cargo hold.
Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground. The Boeing 747, flying from London's Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, was destroyed when a bomb was detonated in its forward cargo hold.
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The plane crashed in Lockerbie 38 minutes after taking off from London. Two Libyans -- Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah -- were tried for the bombing. Al Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 and sentenced to at least 27 years in prison. Fhimah was found not guilty.
The plane crashed in Lockerbie 38 minutes after taking off from London. Two Libyans — Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah — were tried for the bombing. Al-Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 and sentenced to at least 27 years in prison. Fhimah was found not guilty.
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American and British investigators found fragments of a circuit board and a timer in the wreckage. Over three years, investigators would question more than 15,000 people and collect thousands of pieces of evidence.
American and British investigators found fragments of a circuit board and a timer in the wreckage. Over three years, investigators would question more than 15,000 people and collect thousands of pieces of evidence.
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Investigators confer at the crash site two days after the tragedy. In July 1990, the British Civil Aviation Authority's Air Investigation Branch officially reported that an explosive device caused the crash.
Investigators confer at the crash site two days after the tragedy. In July 1990, the British Civil Aviation Authority's Air Investigation Branch officially reported that an explosive device caused the crash.
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The body of Kenneth Raymond Garczynski, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, is removed from a plane December 28, 1988, at JFK Airport. Garczynski was the first of the 189 Americans killed in Flight 103 to be returned.
The body of Kenneth Raymond Garczynski, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, is removed from a plane at JFK Airport a week after the bombing. There were 189 Americans killed. Garczynski's body was the first to be returned.
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U.S. President Ronald Reagan pauses at Los Angeles International Airport to comment on the explosion. In 1992, the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Libya over Libya's refusal to hand the suspects over for trial in a Scottish court. Those sanctions were suspended in 1999 when Libya turned the men in.
US President Ronald Reagan pauses at Los Angeles International Airport to comment on the explosion. In 1992, the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Libya over Libya's refusal to hand the suspects over for trial in a Scottish court. Those sanctions were suspended in 1999 when Libya turned the men in.
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Al-Megrahi is escorted before appearing at the Supreme Court in Tripoli, Libya, for a hearing in February 1992. Nearly 10 years later, in January 2001, he was found guilty in a Scottish court.
Al-Megrahi is escorted before appearing at the Supreme Court in Tripoli, Libya, for a hearing in February 1992. Nearly 10 years later, in January 2001, he was found guilty in a Scottish court.
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On the 10th anniversary of the bombing, a woman pays her respects in the Garden of Remembrance at Dryfesdale Cemetery in Lockerbie.
On the 10th anniversary of the bombing, a woman pays her respects in the Garden of Remembrance at Dryfesdale Cemetery in Lockerbie.
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Fhimah, left, walks with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in Tripoli a day after being acquitted in February 2001.
Fhimah, left, walks with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in Tripoli a day after being acquitted in February 2001.
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The reconstructed remains of Pan Am Flight 103 lie in a warehouse in Farnborough, England, on January 15, 2008.
The reconstructed remains of Pan Am Flight 103 lie in a warehouse in Farnborough, England, on January 15, 2008.
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The Rev. John Mosey, right, leaves the Edinburgh High Court in August 2009 as Scottish ministers wrangled over whether to let an ailing al-Megrahi return home to die in Libya. Al-Megrahi would be released from prison on compassionate grounds due to his terminal prostate cancer.
The Rev. John Mosey, right, leaves the Edinburgh High Court in August 2009 as Scottish ministers wrangled over whether to let an ailing al-Megrahi return home to die in Libya. Al-Megrahi would be released from prison on compassionate grounds due to his terminal prostate cancer.
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Al Megrahi gets a hug from Seif al-Islam el-Gadhafi, Moammar Gadhafi's son, after he was released from prison on August 20, 2009. Though he was given just months to live, al Megrahi died nearly three years later, on May 20, 2012.
Al Megrahi gets a hug from Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, Moammar Gadhafi's son, after he was released from prison in August 2009. Though he was given just months to live, al Megrahi died nearly three years later in May 2012.
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In December 2013, people at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, search for the names of loved ones during a remembrance ceremony for those who died on Pan Am Flight 103.
In December 2013, people at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, search for the names of loved ones during a remembrance ceremony for those who died on Pan Am Flight 103.
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Lawyer Aamer Anwar makes a statement on behalf of his clients, the family of the late Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, at the start of a posthumous appeal in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2020. The appeal was rejected in 2021.
Lawyer Aamer Anwar makes a statement on behalf of his clients, the family of the late Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, at the start of a posthumous appeal in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2020. The appeal was rejected in 2021.
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Paul Hudson, of Sarasota, Florida, holds up a photo of the victims — including his 16-year-old daughter, Melina — as he speaks to members of the media in front of a federal courthouse in Washington, DC, in December 2022.
Paul Hudson, of Sarasota, Florida, holds up a photo of the victims — including his 16-year-old daughter, Melina — as he speaks to members of the media in front of a federal courthouse in Washington, DC, in December 2022.
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