Air 103 Case: The Bombing Of Pan Am Flight 103

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The Bombing of PAN AM Flight 103
PAN AM flight 103, taxied down London’s Heathrow airport at approximately 6:04 P.M., on December, 21st, 1988 en-route to New York City (Rosenburg, 2014). With 243 passengers and 16 crew members, “Clipper 103” as it was identified, had no clue they had roughly 38 minutes to live (Rosenburg, 2014). As the crew approached the oceanic portion of the flight the pilot requested permission from the tower to proceed with their journey over the Atlantic Ocean. This was the last time air traffic control would have verbal contact with the aircraft (Ushynskyi, 2009). A midair explosion sent all 259 people on board to a fiery grave. The remnants of the explosion rained down on the unsuspecting town of Lockerbie, Scotland, …show more content…

Disaster sites always present the stress of identifying multiple (and often unrecognizable), victims, and often times encompasses massive areas of land that must be methodically searched for evidence (Federal Bureau of Investigation, n.d.). The case involving Pan Am flight 103 was no exception. The wreckage of the flight was scattered over an area of 845 square miles across Scotland. This presented logistical and jurisdictional issues for investigators. International cooperation was crucial in the successful solving of this case (Federal Bureau of Investigation, …show more content…

The investigation was also one of the largest international law enforcement endeavors of its time (Birkland, 2004). This tragedy, like most devastating events, changed the course of history and is a directly affected aviation safety as we know it today. The forensic findings during the investigation also helped change aviation safety policy and procedures. The result was improvement in training for airport security personnel, examination of quality control issues and heightened aviation security regulations (Birkland,

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