Lockerbie

[Lovemykidywinks]

Anyone else watching this documentary? Can remember that night so clearly. Am sure my fear of flying stems from that horror.

@VanillaImpulse Lorraine was reflecting on Lockerbie because she covered the story as a junior reporter on the scene . She was "Lorraine" as the daytime tv Gay Icon as we all know but wee Lorraine then from East Kilbride.

I watched. It was very moving. The chap who found the girl on his fence moved me. He’s really struggled but amazing how he’s met the family and they keep in touch. I don’t remember seeing the video of another young girls mum at the airport. That was awful. For her obviously but the media shocked me, diving in to record and film her when she just found out.

A friend of my mum was a paramedic that night. She’s barely worked since.

Lorraine Kelly, for all the negativity she gets, covered Lockerbie and also, sadly Dunblane.

I was a student and had just met my later DH (now ex) who was American. We had just fallen head over heels in love.

He had gone back to the US the week before the disaster happened, the exact same flight but a week earlier.

I was working in a pub at the time that had a tv on with the news, when it came on it was so horrifying to watch...then when I made the connection of the flight details I was even more upset. Those poor poor people.

I red quite a detailed book about the disaster, the investigation and the trial. And also some things that had happened before that might have given a warning.

Often it is the little things that get me, the locals washed all the clothing before returning it to the families.

Such a small thing but so kind.

Something that is awful for all those in the area but better for the families of the passengers was that the bomb going off where it did allowed the police to identify the cause and gave a lot of forensic evidence that would have been lost if it had happened over the sea.

RIP to all on flight 103, those on the ground who also passed and those on Iran Air flight 655 who seem to have been forgotten.

@sashh

those on Iran Air flight 655 who seem to have been forgotten.

....and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 , and...

Unless you have reason follow the industry or specialist press most of the very rare large scale accidents that have occurred over the years barely register a flicker of interest for more than a day or two.

I don't think people consciously think one loss is more or less worthy of remembering over another, they are all tragedies, whatever the cause.

Lockerbie was an outlier (fortunately) and there are lots reasons why that night sticks in the collective memory of many, especially in the UK and the US.

@sashh

RIP to all on flight 103, those on the ground who also passed and those on Iran Air flight 655 who seem to have been forgotten

Lots of air crashes are sadly forgotten. Flight 103 is obviously remembered because the crash happened in this country.

*Often it is the little things that get me, the locals washed all the clothing before returning it to the families.

Such a small thing but so kind*

I recall reading in an article a few years ago that every body had a police officer standing guard overnight, and that one family sat with a passenger's body until it could be collected. So awful that the people involved received no help for mental trauma, but that was the 80s

Did you watch the documentary? If you had you would realise her link.

An American student from my college was on board.
Years later I became friends with someone whose childhood best friend was on board with her family. She marks the anniversary every year and has clearly been deeply affected by her loss.

It was a terrible tragedy.

I remember seeing this on this news as a child living in Glasgow and realising how close this was to me. It frightened me quite a lot as it was later speculated that because the flight path went over Glasgow, if the bomb had detonated 5 minutes later it would have landed in a much more densely populated area.

I remember it well too, and driving past and it all boarded up.

I didn't watch it as Lorraine kelly does my nut in.

A university friend’s brother and sister in law weren’t the flight. I can’t begin to understand how painful it must be for the families.

Yes I appreciate that, but these were so close together.

Our village was under the flight path. I think about it often. Life can change in a second.

I really don't want to drawn into competitive remembering, however it's worth looking at the context.

From a UK POV, news coverage, and people's memories of the time you need to remember Lockerbie was on 21st Dec 1988, then the Kegworth accident happened on the 8th January '89....that's close together...it was a really grim few weeks.

The Iran Air loss, which happened well outside the UK several months prior to Lockerbie might, maybe, still be lodged in the UK public memory if neither the Pan Am or the British Midland accidents had not happened...but they did.

https://heavywhalley.wordpress.com/2012/12/23/after-lockerbie-kegworth-air-disaster/

@ssd @VanillaImpulse

For those who haven't watched it as they don't like Lorraine Kelly, you might be surprised - it's much better than I expected.

I'm not keen on her either and think she's a terrible interviewer on her daytime show. But in the documentary she's not that perky, fawning over celebrities annoying personality but understandably a lot more serious and reflective. She lets the people she talks to speak for a change and her own memories (or lack of them as she's blocked a lot out) are part of the story.

It was very poignant and so sad that so many people still carry such trauma all these years later.

*Often it is the little things that get me, the locals washed all the clothing before returning it to the families.

Such a small thing but so kind*

I recall reading in an article a few years ago that every body had a police officer standing guard overnight, and that one family sat with a passenger's body until it could be collected*
The kindness of these people is astonishing.

It’s sad, horrific and so unnecessary. There were notices up in American embassies throughout Europe that a Pan Am flight from Heathrow was likely to be targeted by terrorists. The security team at Heathrow knew. Despite every other flight being full due to people travelling for Christmas, this one was only two-thirds full. This isn’t a conspiracy theory, these are proven facts.

For anyone who is interested in learning more Lockerbie - A Fathers Search for Justice

Also Iran Flight 655 is linked to the Lockerbie tragedy, which is probably why a PP mentioned it. Lockerbie was the revenge by Iran/Syria for the shooting down of a civilian passenger airliner by an American warship, the USS Vincennes, the captain of which was later awarded a medal.

I know the TV last night was focusing on the human element, but it’s worth learning about the political machinations behind these horrific events, particularly as they play a part in the awful events we are seeing today.

My mum's mum died while away on holiday and she remembers as a teenager opening her mum's suitcase and smelling all her clothes.

She was really upset by the washing of the clothes in Lockerbie. She thought the families would want the clothing back smelling of their loved ones and not a stranger's washing powder. But I guess they probably smelled of smoke and fuel anyway.

Funny how things affect people even years later.

@Worldgonecrazy

Iran Flight 655 is linked to the Lockerbie tragedy, which is probably why a PP mentioned it.

TBH to anyone who was around commercial aviation at the time the reason why 655 was brought up and mentioned very specifically by the pp was pretty obvious.

Aviation was a bit different back then and if there was a need to bring up unremembered flights from 1988 or early 1989 there were plenty of other flight numbers that could have been mentioned..

This is only my personal take on but maybe as a mark of respect if folks want to debate the whole Vincennes debacle maybe it's something for a dedicated thread....

@notimagain

My mother was a journalist working for various news agencies in London so when Lockerbie happened she got the call to go into work as it was such a large story.

With Kegworth, her lover was on the plane - she'd dropped him off at the airport that afternoon.
We were watching tv & saw the news. She was preparing for the call to go in then more details appeared & she realised what had happened.

Lockerbie was a story she worked on, albeit in London. With Kegworth she became part of the story & her life was never the same.

I'm not Lorraine Kelly's biggest fan either, but I've just watched the documentary and she was very good, and it was very appropriate for her to be fronting it.

What a harrowing programme though.. those poor families.

Lorraine Kelly stayed friends with some of the bereaved parents from Dunblane. She visited one mum for a documentary on the 25th anniversary, and the lady still had her dead daughter's little handprint on her window - she'd treasured and preserved that smudge all those years.

That’s completely understandable - how traumatic for her.

I think in the case of Lockerbie, the clothes had been scattered over a wide area and been affected by wind and rain. So it seemed the natural thing to wash and care for them.

There is a written account from mother Suse Lowenstein (a US artist who did an immensely moving sculpture following the event) who was so relieved to get back her son’s red jacket, which she still wears now.

RIP Alexander Lowenstein.

She did one similar in Dunblane a while ago.