Pan Am Flight 103 Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
(CNN) — Here’s a look at the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
December 21, 1988 – Pan Am Flight 103 explodes 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after takeoff from London.
Two hundred fifty-nine people on board the New York-bound Boeing 747 were killed, along with 11 people on the ground.
Afterward, US and British investigators found fragments of a circuit board and a timer, and ruled that a bomb, not mechanical failure, caused the explosion.
Libyans Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah were tried for the bombing. Megrahi was found guilty, while Fhimah was found not guilty.
Facts
Megrahi and Fhimah were tried in a Scottish court at Camp Zeist, a former US air base 20 miles south of the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. The Dutch declared 30 acres of the 100-acre base Scottish territory so that the trial could be held in a neutral country as requested by Megrahi, Fhimah and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. There was no jury; three Scottish judges presided, with a fourth as a reserve.
Authorities said Megrahi and Fhimah manufactured the bomb out of Semtex plastic explosives, concealed it in a Toshiba cassette recorder, hid the recorder in a Samsonite suitcase and slipped the suitcase aboard an Air Malta flight headed from Malta to Frankfurt, Germany. The unaccompanied bag is believed to have been transferred to a Pan Am flight to London and then to Flight 103.
The CIA and FBI said Megrahi and Fhimah, employed by Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta, were also Libyan intelligence agents.
Over three years, investigators from the United States, Britain, Germany and other countries questioned more than 15,000 people in more than 30 countries and collected thousands of pieces of evidence.
The death penalty is not permitted under Scottish law.
Timeline
December 21, 1988 – Pan Am Flight 103 explodes 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after takeoff from London. The 259 people on board the New York-bound Boeing 747 are killed, along with 11 people on the ground.
July 1990 – The British Civil Aviation Authority’s Air Investigation Branch officially reports that an explosive device caused the crash.
November 13, 1991 – US and British investigators indict Libyans Megrahi and Fhimah on 270 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder and violating Britain’s 1982 Aviation Security Act.
April 15, 1992 – The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposes sanctions on air travel and arms sales to Libya, over Libya’s refusal to hand the suspects over for trial.
March 1994 – Libya says it will consider a proposal to try the suspects in a neutral site with a panel of international judges. Britain and the United States reject the plan, insisting the pair be tried in a British or US court.
August 24, 1998 – Britain and the United States propose trying the suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law.
December 5, 1998 – UN Secretary General Kofi Annan meets with Gadhafi to urge Libya to hand over the bombing suspects.
December 15, 1998 – A US appeals court rules relatives of the 189 Americans killed in the bombing can sue Libya for its possible role in sponsoring the attack.
December 16, 1998 – The Libyan People’s Congress agrees to a proposal to try Lockerbie bombing suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law.
April 5, 1999 – Libya hands over the suspects to the United Nations. They are taken to the Netherlands to stand trial.
April 5, 1999 – The UNSC suspends air and arms sanctions against Libya after the bombing suspects are taken into UN custody.
June 11, 1999 – US and Libyan representatives meet for the first time in 18 years to discuss lifting UN sanctions.
December 7, 1999 – Megrahi and Fhimah make their first appearance at a two-day pre-trial hearing at Camp Zeist.
May 3, 2000 – The trial of suspects Megrahi and Fhimah begins.
January 9, 2001 – Prosecutors drop the lesser charges of conspiracy and endangering aircraft safety against Megrahi and Fhimah and ask the court to only consider the murder charges.
January 10, 2001 – Prosecutors present their closing arguments in the case after calling 232 witnesses over eight months. Defense closing arguments follow, after lawyers for the pair call only three witnesses.
January 31, 2001 – Megrahi is found guilty and jailed for a minimum of 27 years. Fhimah is found not guilty.
March 14, 2002 – Megrahi loses his appeal.
2003 – Gadhafi agrees to pay $2.7 billion in compensation to families of those killed in the bombing.
June 28, 2004 – The United States resumes direct diplomatic ties with Libya after 24 years.
October 2008 – It is announced that Megrahi is suffering from terminal cancer.
October 31, 2008 – US President George W. Bush signs an executive order that restores Libya’s immunity from terrorism-related lawsuits.
November 2008 – US Senator Frank Lautenberg announces at a press conference that the families of American victims of the Pan-Am bombing have received final compensation from the Libyan government. Each family received about $10 million, paid in installments between 2004 and 2008.
August 20, 2009 – Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill announces that Megrahi will be released from prison on compassionate grounds due to his terminal cancer. After being released, Megrahi returns to Libya and receives a jubilant welcome.
July 26, 2011 – Megrahi appears in a wheelchair at a pro-Gadhafi rally in Tripoli.
May 20, 2012 – Megrahi dies in Libya.
October 15, 2015 – Scottish officials announce that two additional Libyans have been identified as suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
December 21, 2020 – US Attorney General William Barr announces criminal charges against former Libyan intelligence officer Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi. Mas’ud is accused of being involved in making the bomb that was placed onboard the flight.
December 11, 2022 – The US Justice Department says that Mas’ud is in US custody.
February 8, 2023 – Mas’ud pleads not guilty to three federal charges brought against him.
January 2024 – Congress passes a bill giving surviving relatives of the victims of the Pan-Am bombing remote access to criminal court proceedings in the case against Mas’ud.
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