Lockerbie bombing: Remains of flight Pan Am 103 lay in Lincolnshire scrap yard 30 years on from tragedy

As the 30th anniversary of the Lockerbie disaster approaches – this is the resting place of doomed flight Pan Am 103.

The remains of the flight from Detroit to Frankfurt which was bombed as it flew over the Scottish town on December 21 1988 lie almost forgotten, in a scrap yard near Boston, in Lincolnshire.

The terror attack killed all 243 passengers and 16 crew members on board, along with 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground.

The 325 tons of aluminium alloy, including part of the fuselage bearing the identification number N739PA, are fenced off in a scrapyard next to a go-kart track, and cannot be moved until all investigations into the atrocity have been concluded, and as yet their fate remains unclear.

Following the atrocity, parts of the plane were taken over the English border for examination to an army base near Carlisle.

The fuselage, where the bomb exploded, remains under wraps at the HQ of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough, Hants.

Though the rest of the wreckage, which includes engine parts and pieces of the Boeing 747 nose cone, was transported to Windleys Salvage in Tattershall, near Boston, Lincs, where it has remained ever since.

In August 2017, the family of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the attack, lodged a new bid to appeal against his conviction – five years after his death.

According to a BBC report in May 2018, a review of al-Megrahi’s conviction was to be carried out by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.

The commission said it would examine the case to decide whether it would be appropriate to refer the matter for a fresh appeal.

It is believed the new appeal bid is based on concerns over the evidence that convicted the Libyan, including that given by Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci, who died last year.