Lockerbie Then and Now

It was shortly after 7:00 p.m. on December 21, 1988, just a few days before Christmas when Pan Am 103 exploded in the skies above Lockerbie. The plane wreckage and passengers rained down upon the town, its buildings, and the surrounding landscape. This maelstrom of burning jet fuel, jagged metal, and destruction stretch across 845 square miles

The plane’s nose cone, containing the cockpit and first-class cabin, crashed in a field near Tundergarth Church, three miles east of Lockerbie, where it became one of the most iconic images of the aftermath. The rear section of the fuselage fell in the Rosebank area of town. The central fuselage and fuel-laden wings tore through Sherwood Crescent neighborhood, resulting in an explosion that hurled 1,500 tons of debris into the air and left a 150-foot-long crater. The crash blew the roofs off of nearby homes and shattered doors and windows.

The impact was so intense that it registered as a seismic event of magnitude 1.6 on the Richter scale. Fires burned across an area more than a mile long and half-mile wide. Twenty-one houses were destroyed. Amid the violent attack’s wreckage were the bodies of 270 murder victims: 11 Lockerbie residents and 259 passengers and crew members. In an instant, Lockerbie had become a disaster zone.

Sherwood Crescent in Lockerbie was badly damaged when Pan Am flight 103 exploded and crashed into the sleepy border town on December 21, 1988. The impact and subsequent fireball killed 11 people on the street which was later rebuilt.

The jet's wings landed on Sherwood Crescent, displacing more than 1,500 tons of soil and causing a major fire after the fuel inside its tanks ignited, even taking out an underground gas main. Residents reported hearing noise from a "meteor-like" object which grew progressively louder until it was deafening.

The wings clipped the edge of the A74, pictured, before gouging a crater in the ground on Sherwood Crescent. A passing motorist had a miraculous escape after the main wing section hit the ground with a force of 1.6 on the Richter Scale

The explosive device was controlled by a timer which was due to detonate when the aircraft was over the ocean, but the late departure of the aircraft resulted in it crashing over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. Pictured: Sherwood Crescent

All 11 victims on the ground died after the jet's wings crashed into 13 Sherwood Crescent, pictured, gouging a 47-meter crater out of the ground, displacing more than 1,500 tons of debris. Air Accident investigators believe the wings and three of the aircraft's four engines broke away from the rest of the fuselage at 19,000 feet within a mile of the impact point.

A 60ft section of the fuselage crashed at Rosebank Crescent, pictured, destroying houses, but miraculously, most of the damage was confined to the gardens of the homes. Now the area has been completely rebuilt. 

The explosion left a trail of debris more than 70 miles long after the aircraft broke up in mid air following the explosion. The bomb, which was contained in a radio cassette player, detonated 30 minutes after the aircraft departed Heathrow for New York's JFK airport. The accident report said the jet was cruising normally at 31,000 feet. Today, a small memorial (right) marks the location of one of the impact points to commemorate those who died.

The air accident investigation report discovered the Boeing 747 was flying at 31,000 feet when the explosion ripped through the cargo hold. The pilots did not have a chance to radio as the jet soon spiralled out of control. It is believed the wings broke away from the rest of the fuselage at around 19,000 feet and dived straight down into Lockerbie. Parts of the landing gear and a 60ft length of fuselage were found on Rosebank Crescent, where a small memorial now stands (pictured). Amazingly, nobody on the road, pictured, died in the crash.

This house on Rosebank Crescent was destroyed after it was hit by a 60ft section of the jet's fuselage as a result of the attack which killed all 259 on board the aircraft and a further 11 people on the ground. 

Rosebank Crescent.

A 60-ft long section of the fuselage landed at a housing estate at Rosebank Crescent, some 600 metres from the main crater at Sherwood Crescent. Other items found in Rosebank included a cargo door, several window sections, the right wing landing gear and several pallets and luggage containers.

Rosebank Crescent.

This heavy piece of wreckage from one of the aircraft's four engines narrowly missed nearby homes. Had the aircraft departed Heathrow on time, it would have likely exploded over the Atlantic ocean making recovery of the wreckage incredibly difficult.

Three of the four engines were found in the Rosebank Crescent area of the town - more than 600 metres from the wings. The other engine - which was nearest the source of the explosion, landed several miles from the town.

These houses escaped almost destruction as a result of the aircraft's engine (pictured) crashing to the ground and becoming deeply embedded in the tarmac. 

Prince Charles visited Lockerbie in the aftermath of the tragedy which took place 30 years ago this month. Here he bows his head in a mark of respect outside the Town Hall days after the attack.

Part of the aircraft's cockpit narrowly avoided the church and graveyard in Tundergarth Cemetery in Lockerbie, pictured. The flight data recorder determined the flight crew had no advance notice of the catastrophic explosion and were unable to make a Mayday emergency call after the jet started to break up leaving a 70-mile trail of debris.

The aircraft exploded at 31,000 feet leaving a trail of wreckage more than 70 miles long across Scotland and England. This section of the flight deck (pictured) landed some three miles east of Lockerbie. Despite the major damage, flight crash investigators where able to inspect the jet's controls which showed the aircraft had been in "normal operation in cruising flight."