Non-Subscriber Extract
Anti-terrorism training: Lockerbie
By Andrew Staniforth
10 December 2008
The UK has seen a number of large-scale terrorist attacks but the largest loss of life did not occur in London on 7 July 2005. It happened in the skies over Scotland and in Lockerbie 20 years ago.
After the disaster, a major police operation was launched to recover as much debris as possible, aiming to identify the cause of the crash.
All the parts of the aircraft were examined by inspectors from the Air Accidents Investigation Board. It was discovered that the majority of the fractures to the skin of the fuselage were overload fractures consistent with the type of damage to be expected from the airborne break-up of an aircraft structure.
However, the air investigators' report revealed the nature of the fractures was not typical on the port side of the lower fuselage in the forward cargo bay area where luggage containers were located. The investigators concluded the cause of the damage was the detonation of an explosive device in the fuselage.