File:PanAm 103 cemetery (46391162431).jpg

Thirty years ago, on 21 December 1988 a terrorist bomb destroyed Pan American flight 103 en route from London to New York.

It was a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet and large parts of the burning plane fell from 31,000 feet onto and around the quiet Scottish country town of Lockerbie. Five houses were completely obliterated and several others set on fire and later had to be demolished. There were no survivors.

All 259 onboard plus 11 residents of Lockerbie died.

Today the damage to the town has long-since been repaired but there is a gap site with a quiet, secluded garden with a memorial stone where the largest part of the aircraft fell, creating a huge explosion and fire. (The crater has been filled in long ago).

For people who lost loved ones the damage will never be repaired.

Just outside town is the cemetery where several memorials were erected and the remains of those who could not be identified are buried. (See my photo). This quiet resting place, set amid pretty wooded countryside is a fitting spot.

I vividly remember where I was and what I was doing when the first reports of the crash came in - as you do when world-changing events happen. Air travel was changed forever.