Pan Am Flight 103 departed Frankfurt, Germany on a regularly scheduled flight to Detroit, Michigan on December 21, 1988. The flight had a brief layover in London before resuming it's flight. When the plane reached the altitude of 31,000 feet over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, the plane jolted and broke apart. 243 passengers and `16 crew members were on board the plane at the time of the incident, and all perished. Subsequent investigation discovered the cause of the crash was a bomb. The book went into detail about the bomb, which was concealed in luggage, and how it affected the plane upon detonation. Several notable people were on this flight, including government officials from a couple of different countries, an Olympic sailor, and a rock musician. Eleven residents of the town of Lockerbie were killed by debris from the plane, increasing the death toll for this event. After investigation, two people were charged in this incident.

After reading what happened to the passengers in their final moments, I am more sure than ever that I am too anxious to get on a plane. I cannot imagine what must have been going through their minds in their last three minuets. The attitude of the airline was infuriating to me, the Reagan administration's response was infuriating to me, and the fact that the families of these victims were dismissed in the way that they were was exceptionally infuriating to me. I think the families of the victims were strong people to continue the demand for justice and their fight for compensation (which was absolutely deserved after having to wait for the release of death certificates and such to file claims). Libya did not claim responsibility for this incident until 2003. (I would like to say that is disgraceful, because it is, but I imagine the United States has done similar nonsense to other people, so I cannot be too judgmental.) Pan Am and their lax security was also extremely infuriating, and then for them to say they had made these huge changes and everything was so safe, only to have 9/11 show how lax airport security still was just a few short years later.... ridiculous.

This book is fairly old, but contained a lot of really good information about this incident and the outcome. I just happened to come across it while I was browsing at my local library, and decided to pick it up since I like disaster books. I was very pleased with my selection, and, despite the morbidity of the content, enjoyed reading this book and learning about this terrorist attack. One of the victims was the son of an artist, Suse Lowenstein, who created a memorial sculpture that featured a personal item inside each one. There is a monument at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as one at Syracuse University (some of the victims were students). The University of Rochester also has a memorial plaque for the victims belonging to that school. There is a monument in the United Kingdom at Dryfesdale Cemetery, close to Lockerbie. If you are near any of these locations, you can check out these memorials. If you are interested in disasters, this is a good book to look into.