Lockerbie plane wreckage parts moved to US ahead of trial of alleged bomb maker

Part of the wreckage of the plane blown up in the Lockerbie bombing is being moved to the US ahead of the trial of a man alleged to have helped make the bomb.

All 259 passengers and crew onboard Pan Am Flight 103 and 11 people on the ground were killed when the plane exploded above the Scottish town in 1988, in what remains Britain’s deadliest terrorist atrocity.

Libyan national Abu Agila Masud, who is alleged to have helped make the bomb, is to go on trial in the US in May 2025 facing three charges, which he denies.

Scotland’s prosecution service said the transfer of evidence to the US ahead of the trial is starting and includes parts of the fuselage – the main body of the plane – where the passengers and crew would have been seated.

Laura Buchan, who is head of a team of prosecutors from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) working on the case, said: “Since Mas’ud was taken into custody by the US in 2022, Scottish prosecutors and police have been engaged in a formal evidence sharing process with the US Department of Justice.

“The transfer of physical items of evidence from Scotland into US custody is beginning.

“The transfer includes parts of the fuselage of Pan Am 103 which are a production in the criminal investigation.

“We understand that the fuselage will hold significance for many of the families of those who lost their lives and they have been informed of the transfer plans.”

The plane exploded above Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, on December 21 1988, 40 minutes into its flight from London to New York.

Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is the only man convicted in relation to the bombing, after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, sitting at a special court in the Hague in 2001.

He was sent to prison in Scotland but was controversially granted compassionate release in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, returning home to Libya where he died in 2012.

Scotland’s most senior law officer, the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, said: “The trial court held that this act of state-sponsored terrorism was orchestrated by the Libyan government and that Megrahi was involved with others. That verdict has been subject of intense scrutiny and has been upheld twice in the appeal court.

“The transfer of evidence for the trial in the US is a strong expression of the commitment that Scottish prosecutors and officers of Police Scotland have to bringing all those responsible for this terrible act to justice.”

Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell said: “My thoughts remain with the families and friends of those who lost loved ones in 1988 and who continue to show incredible dignity and strength.

“Police Scotland remains committed to working with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and our law enforcement colleagues in the United States to support the investigation and bring those responsible for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 to justice, no matter the passage of time.”