Seven days after Pan Am Flight 103 came down, forensic scientists confirmed what investigators already suspected: this was a bomb. That answer opened a much harder question. Join Alice and Zach for the reconstruction of a Boeing 747 inside a five-acre shed, the false lead that pointed at the wrong country, a pair of trousers with an order number stamped on them, and the green circuit board half the size of a thumbnail that broke the case open. Plus the few minutes of delay that are the only reason any of that evidence exists — and the trial happening in Washington DC right now. Part two of two.

Sources:

• Aircraft Accident Report 2/90: Report on the accident to Boeing 747-121, N739PA at Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland on 21 December 1988 — Air Accidents Investigation Branch, UK Department of Transport
• Affidavit in Support of a Criminal Complaint, Case 1:20-mj-00252, sworn by Special Agent Rachel F. Otto — Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States District Court for the District of Columbia
• "Former Senior Libyan Intelligence Officer and Bomb-Maker for the Muamar Qaddafi Regime Charged for the December 21, 1988 Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103" — United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
• "Judge allows Lockerbie suspect's alleged confession to be used at US trial" — BBC News
• "Lockerbie bombing accused says he was forced into false confession" — BBC News
• Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 — victim registry and memorial records
• Remembering Pan Am 103 — Syracuse University
• Mayday: Air Disasters, Season 7, Episode 2 — "Lockerbie"

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
• Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
• Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
• Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was seven minutes into level cruise over southern Scotland when the cockpit voice recorder captured a single loud sound and stopped. What happened over the next three seconds is one of the most precisely reconstructed events in aviation history — and almost none of it came from the black boxes. Join Alice and Zach for the story of the people aboard Clipper Maid of the Seas, the thirty-eight minutes of a completely ordinary flight, and the night a small Scottish town became the largest crime scene in the world. Part one of two.

Sources:

• Aircraft Accident Report 2/90: Report on the accident to Boeing 747-121, N739PA at Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland on 21 December 1988 — Air Accidents Investigation Branch, UK Department of Transport
• Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 — victim registry and memorial records
• Remembering Pan Am 103 — Syracuse University
• The Crew of Pan Am Flight 103 — Confessions of a Trolley Dolly
• Mayday: Air Disasters, Season 7, Episode 2 — "Lockerbie"

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
• Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
• Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
• Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

A single-engine plane is over the Atlantic between the Bahamas and the Florida coast when the pilot goes silent at the controls. In the back sits a 39-year-old flooring salesman who has never touched an airplane, a magnetic compass, a friend frozen with fear, and a voice on the radio who wasn't supposed to be working that day. Join Alice and Zach for the story of a routine flight home that becomes one of the most improbable emergencies in modern aviation — and the strangers whose paths collide on a single May afternoon in South Florida.

Sources:

• "'Not today': The twin miracles of Palm Beach" by Joe Sexton - The Sunday Long Read
• "Miracle in the Air: Air Traffic Controllers Guide Passenger to Land Plane Safely" - FAA "The Air Up There" podcast
• "A passenger with no flying experience landed a plane at a Florida airport after the pilot became incapacitated" - CNN
• "'Absolutely incredible': Pilot reacts to passenger with no flight experience landing plane at PBIA" - WPBF
• ATC audio archives from Fort Pierce Tower and Palm Beach International - LiveATC.net
• Aircraft registration record for N333LD - FAA Aircraft Registry
• Surface weather observation for Palm Beach International, May 10, 2022 - Iowa Environmental Mesonet
• "Aortic Dissection" - Cleveland Clinic
• "Aortic Dissection" - American Heart Association

Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:

• Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
• Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com
• Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
• Facebook: Final Boarding Call

Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.