02 · Timeline
From take-off to reckoning.
A single evening in 1988, and the decades of investigation and remembrance that followed.
The evening · 21 December 1988
Departure from Heathrow
Clipper Maid of the Seas leaves London for New York with 259 people aboard, delayed some 25 minutes.
The detonation
Climbing through 31,000 feet over the Scottish borders, the bomb explodes in the forward cargo hold. The aircraft breaks apart within seconds.
Wreckage reaches Lockerbie
Burning debris falls across the town and surrounding countryside. A fuel-laden wing section destroys homes on Sherwood Crescent, killing eleven residents.
The response begins
Emergency services from across the region converge on Lockerbie. It becomes clear there are no survivors from the aircraft.
The investigation
The largest search in British history
Investigators recover millions of fragments across 845 square miles. Forensic work traces the explosion to a device hidden in a Toshiba radio-cassette player inside a Samsonite suitcase.
A fragment of a timer
A tiny piece of circuit board is identified, linking the bomb's timer to a batch supplied to Libya. In November 1991, two Libyan nationals are formally charged.
Sanctions and stalemate
The United Nations imposes sanctions on Libya over its refusal to hand over the accused. After years of negotiation, the two men are surrendered for trial.
The trial and after
Verdict at Camp Zeist
At a special Scottish court convened in the Netherlands, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is convicted of murder; his co-accused, Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, is acquitted.
Libya accepts responsibility
Libya formally accepts responsibility for the actions of its officials and agrees compensation for the families of the victims.
Compassionate release
Diagnosed with terminal cancer, al-Megrahi is released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds and returns to Libya, a decision that draws international controversy. He dies in 2012.
A further prosecution
Abu Agila Mas'ud, alleged to have built the bomb, is charged by US authorities and taken into American custody to face trial.
Remembrance
Services are held each year in Lockerbie, at Syracuse University and at Arlington National Cemetery. The 270 are named and remembered.