A Pan Am 747 jumbo jet heading for New York City on the night of 21 December, disappeared from radar screens and crashed in the small town of Lockerbie in southern Scotland. All 259 passengers and crew died, and 11 others were killed on the ground by falling wreckage. A storm of flames erupted as the plane crushed more than 40 Lockerbie homes, including two complete rows of houses.

The jet - flight 103 - fell apart unexpectedly at 7.19am, after having set off from London's Heathrow airport at 6.25 am under ordinary circumstances. Till today, experts have not been able to determine the cause of the disaster. Some say it was a bomb set off by terrorists.