The Bombing of Pan Am 103

After a Boeing 747 jetliner falls out of the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland, Detective Sergeant Ed McCusker of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) investigates the aftermath. Lacking the technical expertise, Scottish police call the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for help. Some at the FBI feel they are entitled to lead the investigation, given that it was an American airline and the number US citizens, including some active duty military, were killed. They send FBI agent Tom Thurman, a veteran of a United States Army bomb disposal unit to Scotland. The British government appoints Detective Chief Superintendent of Strathclyde Police John Orr as Senior Investigating Officer. The abrupt end of the cockpit recording indicates a bomb. FBI agent Tom Thurman, finds crucial evidence on scene to confirm the suspicion. In a telephone exchange, Orr explains to Special Agent Dick Marquise, lead investigator for the FBI, that while the FBI are welcome to assist, Scottish police are in charge of the overall investigation.

Evidence points to a bomb hidden in passenger luggage. The FBI suspects Khaled Jaafar, a US citizen with ties to Hezbollah, of unwittingly bringing it on board. The pallet with luggage from Heathrow Airport and Frankfurt Airport, where Jaafar boarded, seems to confirm this theory. Orr asks local volunteers to help clean up victims' possessions so they can be returned to the grieving families. Marquise and Orr make a deal to share evidence. The discovery of Jaafar’s intact bags exonerates him.

On the regular route, the plane would have crashed in the ocean, taking all evidence with it. Rerouting due to wind sent it over Scotland, thus preserving everything. Singed pieces of a Toshiba radio circuit board link the crime to bomb maker Marwen Khreesat in Germany. Police there caught him red-handed with explosive material and such a radio in his car, but released him because of insufficient evidence weeks before the attack on the plane.

Thurman conducts tests with radios packed with Semtex on luggage pallets that prove to the German police that the bomb came on board in Frankfurt. Marquise interviews Khreesat in Jordan, but with strict orders not to share information with the Scots. The bombmaker denies the device is his and Jordan’s secret service confirms he works as a mole for them. A victims' organization lobbies for better airline security. The luggage list finally released by the Germans shows that the bomb came from Malta via Frankfurt.

DCI Harry Bell goes to Malta and discovers that the bomb could have gotten on board as lost luggage on a rush delivery to the owner. Tracing a Maltese garment tag to a store, the proprietor clearly remembers his best sale ever to a Libyan customer who bought an odd collection of clothes. Victims' families berate Marquise at a press conference over the government telling airlines about a bomb threat to a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt without alerting the general public.

The investigations shift toward Libya’s External Security Organisation (ESO), blamed for many terrorist attacks including a subsequent bombing of a French airliner using a similar device. The CIA can link its timer to the ESO. Edwin Bollier, founder of the manufacturer Mebo, ties the timer directly to his contacts in Libya. He tipped off the CIA after the bombing but was dismissed as a lunatic. He and the Maltese shopkeeper identify Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, alias Abdusamad, as the suspect. Tracing of his contacts leads to Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, a Libyan airline employee at Malta International Airport. Without telling the Scots, Marquise makes a deal with the CIA to interview a Libyan mole, who confirms the details of the conspiracy.

DCS Tom McCulloch takes over as third Senior Investigating Officer of the case. He has to handle an international trial of al-Megrahi and Fhimah in the Netherlands as a compromise with Libya. Promoted Detective Inspector McCusker takes on the difficult task of persuading and protecting witnesses, some of which hide in the US WITSEC program. Victim’s advocates get funding for travel for the family members and a live feed from the courtroom for those unable to attend in person. Bollier gives confusing testimony. The ESO mole testifies from behind a screen to protect his identity, but cracks under cross examination. The shopkeeper is adamant about al-Megrahi. The judges unanimously convict him but acquit Fhimah.