CBS News Clip: Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie (December 21, 1988)

This news clip was posted by the Pan Am Museum Foundation for educational purposes only and copyright permission was obtained from the networks and is on file.
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[@maryhlad7501]

I’ve never forgotten that horrific crash. I was at my neighbor’s house when we first heard the horrible news on WSTM Channel 3 here in Syracuse, New York and we saw a list of the names of the Syracuse University students aboard the plane. When I returned to the apartment I shared with my mother-I started crying.

[@keithmartin1328]

My late aunt was at a Christmas party in Edinburgh and several of her friends were nurses. Just before the news broke on the local TV pagers started going off and people were going to find phones in the lobby. The only information was that a large plane, possibly a Jumbo Jet, had crashed and this was a major incident report for work at once. Rooms and other areas in the local hospitals were cleared, ambulances put on standby and staff told to prepare for a lot of casualties. And then her friend said they waited, all prepared with emergency surgical equipment, for survivors.

[@tuowl0564]

I'm from Northeastern PA and had a cousin at Syracuse at the time. Because the accident occurred during the holidays it remains a profound memory because it completely changed the tenor of the 1988 holiday seasons. And when you're 6 years old like I was Christmas is a month long process.

[@aston-martin-internationalist]

I remember this all too well. I was given a Pan Am electric 747 toy as a young boy with a flashing light on it the previous Christmas and have always been captivated by the brand. I visited Lockerbie last year and to the memorial which I found very moving. I also visited the other sites in Lockerbie where plane debris was found and the road where the row of houses was destroyed.

[@maryhlad7501]

I pray for the souls of the crew & passengers aboard Pan Am Flight 103, and the souls of the victims who were killed on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland every night before I go to sleep. May all their souls rest in peace.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇸

[@roywhitworth]

This is one of my first memories, seeing the cockpit on its side. I was 4

[@stratman2348]

I was 12 when this happened , I remember it was the winter solstice that day and I was looking forward to days starting to get longer again, but when I saw the news about the Pan Am plane, I was in shock of seeing something like that.

[@FallenAngel53]

Dec 21 1987. I was 17, turning 18 in Feb. Young and excited for both Christmas and my 18th. I was on my way out when the Newsflash came on during Magnum Force -Clint Eastwood. Such a different different time. ❤ ✌️

[@scottmckellar1157]

Those poor people 😢

[@ericsamuelson5656]

I turned 6 years old that month and I still remember when it happened

[@freddyhoyt1849]

I was a flight attendant that year in 1988 when flight 103 went down I lost many coworkers I was supposed to be on the flight ✈️ but my schedule changed last minute

[@stuartlee6622]

All Pan American had to do was to follow rules and match checked luggage to onboard passengers--and then this crash wouldn't have happened! I blame Pan American!

[@ashgreene4914]

So true. Pan Am was trying to remain a viable airline when this occured and cutting costs in their security department was one of the measures their mangement took. After this bombing it was downhill for the airline since their brand was tranished and the gulf war was added to thoes who feared flying overseas at the time.

[@marcdewolf7334]

Incredibly there was a guy who missed the flight, he checked in and his luggage put onto the plane, he was drinking with his relatives and missed the call to board, he realised he was late and sprinted to the gate but was refused entry but his luggage was left on the plane. The guy was later arrested by the police and questioned after they found out he hadn't boarded but his luggage was on the plane. They found that information out only just after the crash happened, so the police weren't slow in getting that information from Pan Am.

[@Flubbydubbydoodoo]

The graphics.😀 Like how they use “petrol” rather than “gas” in the graphic.

[@maryhlad7501]

People in the United Kingdom call gasoline “petrol”.

[@Flubbydubbydoodoo]

@@maryhlad7501 no shit!

[@michaelcivitella9119]

Pan Am failed to perform passenger baggage reconciliation which became mandatory in 1985. The airline was found guilty (and deservedly so) of willful misconduct by a Scottish court and this tragedy was the final nail in the coffin that led to it's demise in 1991. Quite frankly, given their carelessness in this matter, they have nobody to blame but THEMSELVES!

[@MattDaugherty-jd7my]

I was 4 years old when that happened it was a sad day

[@Jerram89]

They have to be some of the most ridiculous and also inappropriate graphics I’ve ever seen.

[@MilesL.auto-train4013]

???

[@brianreardon7700]

well its 1988

[@Stenbrotsgatan]

My father knew one of the stewardess on board.

[@louise_digitaldiary]

How did this tragedy affect your father?

[@KingEric-nr8gv]

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