Mike at C&M Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 At 19.02 GMT on Wednesday 21st December, PanAm Flight 103 was blown up by a terrorist bomb over southern Scotland, and the resulting debris crashed down on to, and around, the town of Lockerbie. In all, 270 people lost their lives, including 11 Lockerbie residents. In our part of the world, December 21st is now always a rather sombre day. The iconic images of half of the cockpit section of the 747-121 "Clipper Maid of the Seas" lying in the fields above the town and those of a destroyed Sherwood Crescent in the town are still very haunting. To us in this corner of the UK, this is a 'Kennedy' moment - where were you at the time. I was watching television, but had I been looking out of my bedroom window, I would have seen the incident clearly on what I still remember as a very clear night. An hour later, unaware of what had happened, I walked into my local pub where a Christmas party was being held. The image of some 50 people just stood there in absolute silence and disbelief is one I will never forget. So I ask that 25 years on, we take a few moments to remember a tragedy of the modern age. I also respectfully ask that there are no postings within this thread on terrorism, religion or politics. Thank you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Belgian Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 We passed through Lockerbie two weeks ago on a train and thought of the terrible event as we do every time we even hear the word 'Lockerbie', but somehow it was far more poignant this time - I knew it was a quarter of a century ago but couldn't place the actual date in my head. Thank you for reminding us all. JE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 It is a little known fact that in addition to the large rebuilt section of fuselage where the bomb exploded that us still in a hangar at Farnborough (and very imposing it looked too), other wreckage was stored for a long time in the open at a salvage yard in Lincolnshire, and was clearly visible on Google earth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two_sugars Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 They Shall Not Grow Old . . . . . . . . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted December 21, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 21, 2013 I passed the site of the atrocity in the early new year of 1989 (a couple of weeks after the explosion), it was during this time we were commissioning systems in Glasgow hospitals so I was a frequent traveller up and down the M6 and the M74 (which was being built at the time), a horrendous sight which I still remember. <bows head> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 The memories of seeing the news after an evening in the pub are still vivid, an awful event that appeared even more horrifying the next day with images which illustrated the fear and death that touched so many that night. Thankfully we've never seen the like again on these shores and I hope we never will. It must have been very traumatic for the emergency services too, it was closely followed by the Kegworth air crash too; it just felt that the whole world had gone a bit wobbly at that time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted December 21, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 21, 2013 I remember driving past the location a week or do after the tragedy but it was dark so all we saw were the traffic cones etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I remember it well. Awful loss of life. The atrocity will always remind me of a vacuum pump myself and a fellow apprentice manufactured for a factory in Cincinatti, which was part of the group that I worked for at the time. Apparently it was on flight 103, so it never got there. RIP, all of those poor souls. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Through my former job I had occasion to see the remains of the fuselage when it was in the AAIB hangar. We drive past Lockerbie twice each year and always pause for thought for those who lost their lives and loved ones. You may be interested to read this story on the BBC new site, showing that something good and meaningful can come from the darkest of circumstances. Best, Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I was doing my Blaydon and Ryton round that evening; one of my customers was part of a Mountain Rescue team who was asked to help with searching for bodies away from the main impact area. His sister was supposed to have been on the 'plane, and he didn't know when he left home that she'd changed flights. One of Lynne's colleagues was the TV cameraman who featured on some of the tabloids for the amount he was paid for being there. At the time, the overtime system in ITV was such that, if you didn't have the required break between shifts, then your rate for the next shift was double that at which you finished the previous day- an incentive for management to find someone to replace you. Unfortunately, despite frequent requests, the company couldn't/wouldn't find a replacement for almost a week, so the chap ended being paid a huge amount- however, the experience was such that he had a breakdown, and was unable to work for a long time afterwards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corax67 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I cannot believe it was 25 years ago - I remember the news coverage well and the sense of a nation coming together to mourn the victims of such an unthinkable act. My thoughts and prayers are those for whom today will be full of memories. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Despite living on the west coast of Canada, I do have strong memories of this disaster. The first radio reports here talked of "an airliner having crashed on a highway near Glasgow". We immediately thought it was a plane landing or taking off from Glasgow airport, with the M8 just beyond the runway. My wife phoned her sister in Dumbarton to ask for more details, and found that she hadn't heard about it yet! As we heard more, I got concerned, as I knew my parents were driving down the A74 past Lockerbie that day. Fortunately, they had passed there several hours before. And a cousin was a police sergeant in Lanarkshire who was part of a group sent to Lockerbie to search for debris and bodies - he still will not say anything about it. A few years ago, we drove past the entrance to the Lockerbie cemetery, and felt that we should go in to see the memorial to the victims of the disaster. It is very moving - the contrast between the quiet, peaceful surroundings of the memorial, and the terrible violence which it commemorates. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Funnily enough, I discussed this very topic with my parents the other day. I remember that I had already broken up from school, and I was going Christmas Shopping with my Mum and Aunt in Maidstone on the day of the disaster. I remember sitting and eating my breakfast while the news was on, and thinking how terrible it must have been for all the people concerned. I also remember that I had a rotten cold! It is hard to believe that it is already 25 years ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paperlad Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 I was sat at home studying for my PPL when the news broke, dreaming of being a commercial pilot, and being totally shocked by the event. Later, when it became clear that it was a bomb, I recall thinking that, whoever you are, you're not putting me off flying.....and they didn't! PL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwales Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Hi all Din't realise it was 25 years ago, my sister was there as part of the Salvation Army team that was on hand, strangely enough it was 2 days earlier I had first met the girl who is now my wife. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 A friend of mine was in Lockerbie at the time. Much later he told me about his experiences. I will not repeat his description of the scene here. A sad day. I pray that something of that nature will never happen again. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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