Sky’s upcoming five-part series will chronicle the quest of Dr Jim Swire (portrayed by Colin Firth) for justice following the tragic death of his daughter and 258 other passengers and crew on Pan Am Flight 103.
The geopolitical thriller is rooted in the chilling true events of 1988. Here’s all you need to know about one of history’s most devastating air disasters.
On December 21, 1988, a mere 38 minutes after take-off, 259 passengers and crew lost their lives when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie. As the aircraft plummeted from the sky, 11 inhabitants of the small Scottish town were also killed.
Pan Am Flight 103 was a routine flight from Frankfurt to Detroit, with stopovers in London and New York City. The flight was in transit when a bomb detonated, marking it as the deadliest terror attack in UK history, reports the Daily Record.
A three-year investigation was initiated by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary in collaboration with the FBI. Arrest warrants for two Libyan nationals were issued in 1991.
It wasn’t until 2001 that former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was found guilty of the murders of all 270 individuals who perished in the bombing.
He remains the only person ever convicted for the attack. He passed away in 2012 after being released from prison on compassionate grounds due to a cancer diagnosis.
The documentary series is told through the perspective of Dr Swire, who has been the voice for the UK families affected by the tragedy.
He has travelled extensively, crossing continents and navigating complex politics, to fight for justice not just for his daughter Flora but for all the families who lost loved ones.
Since the Lockerbie disaster, Jim has devoted his life to uncovering the truth about the events and those responsible for his daughter’s death.
Dr Jim Swire shared his thoughts on the series, saying: “It is an extraordinary development in a campaign which, up until now, had been seeming that it would die away except for the work of future historians who I thought would eventually uncover the real truth and promote it.
“You can see the juxtaposition there between, what for us, is still a very simple family affair we want to know who murdered our eldest daughter, as simple as that.”
When asked about his personal opinion of the series, Dr Swire added: “The thing that mattered was that it seemed to be that it was an honest representation of what the UK family group had tried to do, and the small amount that we’ve managed to achieve as private individuals, which has been enough to show us just how vulnerable the official version is to proper probing and what really lies behind this terrible atrocity.”
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