The Maltese Double Cross

September 7, 2010 12:59 PM

A documentary about Pan AM flight 103A. [MLYT]

There has been a bit of a furore over the release of Al Magrahi. This 1994 documentary shows an alternative to the case as outlined by the FBI/CIA/Scottish police. It was (eventually) shown on (UK) Channel 4: "When Channel 4 agreed to show the film, the Scottish Crown Office and the U.S. Embassy in London sent press packs to the media, labeling the film "blatant propaganda" and attacking some of the film's interviewees, including Juval Aviv the head of Interfor."

Starts Slowly, builds to part 9, where Dennis Phipps, former head of British Airways Security, says: "At Malta, the records of the handling of that flight, KM180, were made available for me to see. There was no evidence of unaccompanied bags, all of the bags that were carried as passenger baggage were checked in by a passenger that had travelled on the flight."

Found via William Blum's Killing Hope - lockerbie page website.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16

posted by marienbad (9 comments total)

This case is so weird and has a lot of problems with it. Normally I'm totally skeptical of conspiracy theories. But this one is one where I am very skeptical of the official story. The fact that the Scottish Authorities were about to open the case back up when the alleged bomber was released for "medical reasons" makes me think long and hard about the case.
posted by Ironmouth at 1:05 PM on September 7, 2010

If you read the NTSB report. It wasn't a pretty way to die. Many were alive during the plane breakup and fall. Ugh.
posted by stormpooper at 1:06 PM on September 7, 2010

See also Dr Jim Swire's website. Jim Swire's daughter Flora was on the plane.

He's also writing a book based on his theory of what happened. I saw the play based on this that was performed at the Edinburgh Festival this year. It was very persuasive.
posted by DanCall at 2:05 PM on September 7, 2010

We had a lot of local coverage of Pan Am 103 here in the Metro Detroit area long after national interest had faded because one of the original suspects was a passenger who hailed from Dearborn, Michigan. I remember reading reports long after the crash that stated that forensic evidence had determined that not every passenger had died when the bomb exploded, that many were conscious and aware of the impending doom after the initial "bang." Another very interesting read is Dan and Susan Cohen's book - their only child was aboard Pan Am 103. The chaos and lack of coordination among Pan Am personnel when it came to providing information to the families of the passengers immediately following the disaster is jaw-dropping.
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:25 PM on September 7, 2010

Normally I'm totally skeptical of conspiracy theories...

Why? You think the bombing of this plane wasn't a conspiracy? People planned to bomb Flight 103 and successfully carried out that plan. That's a conspiracy, isn't it?

So why is it so far-fetched to think other groups may have plotted to serve their own interests in the aftermath of this event?
posted by grounded at 3:53 PM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Why? You think the bombing of this plane wasn't a conspiracy? People planned to bomb Flight 103 and successfully carried out that plan. That's a conspiracy, isn't it?


I think by conspiracy theory he means something other than the official story, that being that Libyans successfully conspired to bomb the PanAm flight. Maybe it was the CIA, or some Palestinian group etc... Reading the wiki page in the flight, there are certainly a number of loose ends or weak evidence in places. I'm sure we don't know the full story since, if the official account is true, much of that would be in Lybia and unavailable or classified British intelligence files. I think it is this ambiguity of a real, existing conspiracy that makes the PanAm 103 bombing seem like there could be more to it then what we now know.

So, like, chill. Ironmouth is being curious.
posted by boubelium at 4:16 PM on September 7, 2010

Reminds me of the Air India flight 182 case.
posted by anniecat at 4:21 PM on September 7, 2010

I wish they had subtitles for when there is Scottish dialect. I can only understand every one word for every six he says.
posted by anniecat at 4:26 PM on September 7, 2010

I didn't know this was out there. Thanks for posting it.
posted by immlass at 8:05 PM on September 7, 2010