The following programme contains scenes
which some viewers may find distressing.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(METAL DOOR CLUNKS) (INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(CHARACTERS CLACKING)
(KEYS JINGLING)
(DOOR UNLOCKS, CLUNKS)
(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)
(KEYS JINGLE, DOOR CLUNKS)
(DOOR HINGE SQUEALS)
(DOOR CLOSES, ECHOES)
(SOMBRE MUSIC CONTINUES)
GUARD: All that blood on his hands.
How can you, of all people,
bear to be in the same room as him?
(MUSIC BECOMES TENSE)
(DOOR UNLOCKING IN DISTANCE)
(DOOR CLUNKS)
(MUSIC SWELLS, FADES OUT)
(CHARACTERS CLACKING)
(BANGING ECHOES)
Will, you monster, give it back! I'm gonna be late.
What do you look like?
Stop being so annoying.
(CATHY TRILLS LIPS)
(SCOFFS) Haven't even left yet and you're stealing my clothes!
Ah, it's for the party tonight. Can I?
Please? Fine.
JANE: Right. Washed and ironed as commanded.
Thank you, thank you. (CHUCKLES)
Oh, gosh, Flora, look at this mess.
Imagine ditching your family at Christmas
for a new boyfriend. Oh, shut up. (GRUNTS)
It's too full. (ZIP WHIZZES)
It's fine. (GRUNTS)
Ta-da!
(BIRD TWEETING NEARBY)
Don't be sad. Oh, let me be sad.
First Christmas without you.
And I'll deal with you when I get back.
Remember, a baseball bat and a Yankees cap!
Please drive carefully, Cathy! CATHY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Go and have the time of your life.
Love you, Dad. Love you, too.
(ENGINE STARTS)
Bye! Bye, darling.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
Bye!
Bye, darling. See ya!
(ENGINE REVS)
(PA SYSTEM CHIMES) (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
WOMAN: (OVER PA) All passengers for Pan Am Flight 103 to JFK,
proceed through passport control...
Have fun tonight! Yes. (CHUCKLES)
'All passengers for Pan Am Flight 103 to JFK...'
(MOUTHING)
(LUGGAGE TRUCK BEEPING)
(CLUNKING, WHIRRING)
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
FEMALE PASSENGER: Sorry.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Whew! Just made it. (CHUCKLES)
Had to beg them to let me on. (CHUCKLES)
He's much, much better.
And he's not in any pain, that's the main thing.
You have my permission to spoil him. Turkey and all the trimmings.
Ah. Thank you, Dr Swire. I'll look in after Christmas.
But if anything comes up, call me.
Any time, day or night. Yes, I will.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER IN COCKPIT)
CAPTAIN: 'This is Captain MacQuarrie speaking.
We are currently cruising at...'
It is a computer science programme that we are working on together.
Yes, it is very complicated. (CHUCKLES)
I don't want to bore-bore you. Um... No, no, no.
So what is it that you do? I'm a PhD student.
Doing research at the University College, London...
(PASSENGERS SING "RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER")
# Had a very shiny nose...
Come on, they must have this at home.
Come on. Yes! No, I can't.
# You may even say it glows
# All of the other reindeer #
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
(ORIGINAL "RUDOLPH" SONG PLAYS FAINTLY)
# Then one foggy Christmas Eve
# Santa came to say...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
# "Rudolph, with your nose so bright
# Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
# Then how the reindeer loved him...
CHILD: Hi, Mrs Walker!
Oh, hello. I hope you've done your homework!
# You'll go down in history #
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
Very good. Very good.
(MAN LAUGHS) Woo!
(BIKE CLACKING)
MAN: (ON TV) We'll go back to our studio and... (INDISTINCT)
(APPLAUSE ON TV)
(TOY RATTLING)
Santa, you're early(!) (MAN CHUCKLES)
Ah. Puncture?
Mr Edwards is gonna show me how to fix it.
Nice.
(OMINOUS MUSIC BUILDS)
PLANE PASSENGERS: # Jingle bells, jingle all the way
# Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!
# Jingle bells, jingle bells... # FLORA: Excuse me.
(RUMBLING) (PASSENGERS SCREAMING)
(MUSIC ENDS ABRUPTLY)
(ENGINE IDLING)
(DISTANT EXPLOSION)
(POLICE RADIO CHATTER)
Got the keys? Yeah.
(EXPLOSION RUMBLING IN DISTANCE)
(SPOON CLATTERS)
(RUMBLING) (THUDDING ON CEILING)
(CONFUSED CHATTER)
(THUDDING CONTINUES)
(WHOOSHING, HISSING)
(GRUNTING, PANTING)
(WHOOSHING, EXPLOSION)
(EXCLAIMING)
(FLAMES CRACKLING)
(WHOOSHING APPROACHING)
(WHOOSHING, CRASHING BEHIND)
(GLASS SHATTERING)
(OBJECTS WHOOSHING, THUDDING)
(PANTING)
(GROANS)
(WHOOSHING) (SCREAMS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(BODY THUDS)
(TRILLS LIPS)
(WHOOSHING)
(EXPLOSION)
(PANTING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(WOMAN MOANING)
(EXPLOSION)
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(DEBRIS CLINKING)
(FLAMES RUMBLING)
MRS WALKER: Oh, God.
That's Stephen.
Where's my house gone?
Where's my mum and dad, Mrs Walker?
Where did they go?
(SIREN WAILING)
("REAL GONE KID" BY DEACON BLUE PLAYS FAINTLY ON CAR STEREO)
# I'll play you old 45s
# That now mean nothing to me
# And you're a real gone kid... #
DJ: (ON RADIO) We interrupt this programme for a newsflash.
There are reports coming in of an air crash
near the town of Lockerbie in the Scottish borders...
(TYRES SCREECH)
(ENGINE REVS)
(APPLAUSE ON TV)
I bought a calendar this year,
so I'll know how many days there are to Christmas.
(LAUGHTER ON TV)
(APPLAUSE ON TV)
(FRONT DOOR CLOSES) (DOOR CLOSES)
'I am reliably informed there are four.'
(LAUGHTER ON TV)
Alright, Will?
Yeah. 'It's only hours away,
there are silly things going on up and down the country.'
(CHUCKLES) They suit you. What do?
MAN: 'We interrupt this programme with reports of a plane crash.'
And when are we expecting Cathy back?
Oh, she shouldn't be much longer. WILL: Dad, Mum, come here!
Why? What is it?
A newsflash, plane's gone down.
NEWSREADER: Just north of the Scottish border.
The plane disappeared off radar screens at 19 minutes past 7.
Pan Am Flight 103 took off... Was that her flight number?
Jim, was that Flora's flight number? I don't know.
WOMAN: (ON TV) Pan Am have released
emergency telephone numbers. A pen. Quick!
'They are: 2-1-3...'
It won't be her flight. It can't be. '..9-8-5-3.
Or 2-1-2...'
(SIREN BLARING)
FIREFIGHTER: I can't get any water from the hybrids.
FIREFIGHTER 2: You two! Get the light, hoseable pump off your flies
and find... (INDISTINCT)
(SEATBELT HOLDER CLICKS) (CLEARS THROAT)
PARAMEDIC: Can we get a line in here? Come on, somebody help me!
(SIREN STOPS) (CROWD CLAMOURING)
MAN: Can we get a paramedic?
MAN 2: Move! (COUGHING)
(LINE BEEPING)
Still engaged. Keep trying.
(DOOR CLOSES)
NEWSREADER: 'Investigators will want to see if there was any evidence
of a sudden cabin depressurisation.'
Uh, what's going on?
Cathy, did Flora make her flight? Yeah, I think so.
Oh!
Are you sure?
'This suggests that whatever disaster
befell the jumbo jet happened very quickly.'
What's happened?
'Once the tragic task of dealing with the dead and injured
has been completed, accident investigators will search for...'
(SIREN BLARING)
DETECTIVE: OK, so listen up.
First priority is gonna be to find survivors.
Sir, I just had a call from a farmer up in Tundergarth.
There's bodies on his farm.
That's three miles away.
Who knows Tundergarth Farm?
Uh, I do. It's Grant Nelson's farm.
Right, what's your name? Ellen.
OK, Ellen, take this group with you now.
Get there now. Hurry! OK. Come on, this way.
(FLAMES ROARING)
(SIREN BLARING) (CLATTERING UNDERFOOT)
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(PEOPLE COUGHING)
(HELICOPTER WHIRRING OVERHEAD)
(COUGHING)
(HELICOPTER DROWNS OUT MAN SHOUTING)
MAN: Other way! No pressure!
(PEOPLE CLAMOURING, WAILING)
(EXPLOSION) (WOMAN SCREAMS)
(PEOPLE EXCLAIMING)
(WHIMPERS)
(LINE RINGING) (GRANDFATHER CLOCK TICKING)
Why is no one answering?
Other people will be trying to call.
Yes, but I've been trying for two hours.
(LINE RINGING, CALL CONNECTS)
Hello? Hello?
WOMAN: (ON PHONE) Pan Am desk, JFK Airport.
(PEOPLE CLAMOURING) MAN: He's my brother.
His name's Tom. Thomas Joseph Ammerman.
Please. Just a moment, sir.
'I'm calling about my daughter, Flora Swire. Her plane was-'
Sir, I'm afraid I have no news at the moment.
Nothing? So all your damn computers,
and you can't say whether my child is on that plane!
'We're doing everything we can to get more details.
That's all I can tell you right now. I'm sorry.'
(FLAMES CRACKLING)
GRANT NELSON: Hey! Over here.
(MAN GRUNTS)
Right, watch where you're treading.
(OMINOUS MUSIC THUDS)
Over here.
(OMINOUS MUSIC THUDS)
ELLEN: (WHISPERS) Oh, no.
I couldn't leave him lying there.
God rest his soul.
There's more. All over.
I stopped counting after 50.
MAN: (IN DISTANCE) Out to there. First right!
Who are they?
I don't know.
They said they were crash investigators or something.
Now they got here awfully quick. (SCOFFS)
Spread out!
(FLAMES CRACKLING)
(GRANDFATHER CLOCK TICKING)
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello? Jim Swire speaking.
WOMAN: (ON PHONE) Good evening, sir. I'm calling from Pan Am.
Finally. We have confirmation for you.
The passenger list has been checked and verified.
(WOMAN SCREAMS) Flora MacDonald Margaret Swire
was a passenger on Pan Am Flight 103.
I'm afraid there are no survivors.
(STAMMERS) Are you sure?
Are you completely sure?
Who gave you this information?
(CATHY SOBBING)
Oh, my God. No.
Can you recheck, please? (SOBS)
(WAILS) No!
Yes, I'd like you to do that now.
No, no, no.
(ALL SOBBING)
(BIRDSONG)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(MUSIC BECOMES OMINOUS)
(MUSIC RETURNS TO SOMBRE)
'The small, quiet town of Lockerbie...
..is waking up this morning to the sheer unmitigated horror
of Britain's worst-ever air crash.'
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
'259 people were on board Pan Am Flight 103
when it exploded over the Scottish town.'
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Hello?
Is anyone home?
'The search for survivors has so far proved unsuccessful.'
(PHONE LINE CRACKLING)
'Though we still do not know
how many people on the ground have been killed...
..the scale of this disaster is unmatched.'
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
What is not yet known
is whether this was human or mechanical error...
..or an act of terrorism.
One thing is for certain.
Life will never be the same again.
(HELICOPTER WHIRRING)
WOMAN: 'It was like the world was on fire.
Uh, thick smoke...'
MAN: 'I saw the explosion of flames rise up.'
'The sound of screaming.'
WOMAN 2: 'There were bodies everywhere.'
'(OVERLAPPING REPORTERS SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGES)'
REPORTER: 'In a matter of seconds,
the community was ripped by explosions and fire.
An earthquake, some residents thought.'
'As the news reached John F Kennedy airport,
so did the stream of relatives
discovering the full horror that awaited them.'
Among the passengers were 38 students
from Syracuse University in New York.
Christmas is a special time for the young,
for those who carry the twin promises of hopes and dreams...
Again, it is beyond anything in one's experience.
'The giant aircraft with its holiday travellers
apparently crashed directly into a gas station.'
'Fireball rose hundreds of feet into the air...'
'Four days after the disaster, the area search has been extended yet again.'
No indication that there were any problems.
There was no contact from the captain.
They'll be looking at two theories: one,
that the crash was caused by a structural fault.
The other, that a terrorist bomb had been planted on board.
Intelligence sources believe it to have been a revenge attack by Iran
for the American downing of an Iranian Airbus in July,
in which 290 people lost their lives.
The Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher,
will today attend a memorial service in Lockerbie,
where she will later meet the families
of the victims of Flight 103.
(CHARACTERS CLACKING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
AMERICAN WOMAN: I um...
lost my dear husband.
Peter.
I'm so sorry.
MAN: Ladies and gentlemen,
the Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher.
The Transport Secretary, Mr Paul Channon.
(PEOPLE MURMURING)
CHANNON: Paul Channon, Transport Secretary. I'm so sorry.
We have. Hello.
Paul Channon, Transport Secretary.
Dr Jim Swire. This is my wife, Jane.
(CLEARS THROAT) Mrs Swire.
Do I know you? I was in the year below you at Eton.
Oh, yes, of course. Yes.
Swire, yes.
Who was it you lost?
Uh, our daughter, Flora.
My sincere condolences to you both.
And let me assure you, we are working around the clock
to bring the perpetrators of this heinous act to justice.
They say in the press it may have been Iran.
Is that true? Revenge attack?
I'm afraid I can't comment on that.
Though uh... knowing their track record...
Minister? (SIGHS)
Our daughter's body is still here in Lockerbie.
We were informed by letter a week ago that we weren't allowed to see her,
but we don't know why.
Well, I'm sorry, I can't do anything about that.
It is the decision of the Lord Advocate of Scotland.
Though if there's anything I can do further down the line,
don't hesitate to get in touch with my office.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(TAKES DEEP BREATH)
Murray Guthrie. Jim Swire.
Uh, full disclosure, I'm a journalist.
But don't worry, I'm not here to intrude on your grief.
Course you are, if you're any journalist worth his salt.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
My daughter's body is lying in this town's ice rink right now.
Town this size, where else could they put the bodies?
They bring us here to sing hymns and listen to sermons,
and we're expected to leave without even saying goodbye?
It's inhumane.
It was a psychiatrist's recommendation.
He advised the Lord Advocate against letting any of you see the bodies.
He thought it'd be too traumatic.
It should be our choice.
You're a doctor, Jim Swire.
I've seen doctors going in and out of the ice rink constantly.
If you wanna see your daughter, I know what I'd do.
How do you think I got in here?
I'm so sorry to hear that.
I'm going to see Flora.
But they said we couldn't. I know. I don't care.
I can get us in. If you want to.
No. No, um, I can't.
Please, Jim. Don't go. Stay with us.
(CURIOUS MUSIC)
(MUSIC BUILDS)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(DOOR HINGE SQUEAKS)
(MUSIC ENDS)
(SHOES SQUEAKING SOFTLY)
(SILENCE)
What are you doing?
This building's closed to the general public.
I'm Jim Swire. I'm a GP.
My family and I have driven up from Bromsgrove.
It took six hours. I-I'm sorry.
I'm under strict orders not to let anyone in.
I want to see my daughter.
(SIGHS)
(TAKES DEEP BREATH, EXHALES)
Prepare yourself.
(GROANS)
(SOMBRE MUSIC FADES IN)
Dr Swire, as you're here now,
can you confirm for me that this is your daughter?
Did Flora have any identifying marks?
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(SNIFFLES)
It's her. It's Flora.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
Thank you for your kindness.
(MUSIC ENDS)
(ENGINE ROARS)
(KNOCKING ON METALLIC DOOR)
I was hoping to see you at the town hall, Mr Nelson.
Not my thing. I was at the service.
What is it you're wanting?
Just to know about the men who came to your farm the night of the crash.
There's a few folk I've been talking to said they saw 'em.
They told me...
..they were crash investigators.
You don't think they were? I don't know.
Searching through people's luggage...
(SCOFFS) You're joking?
..cutting people's suitcases open,
pulling stuff out people's belongings.
Some people are saying...
they saw FBI caps.
Others were convinced they were CIA.
But I don't know. There was a lot going on that night.
All I do know is...
..they were here before anyone else.
In and out by first light.
(CHARACTERS CLACKING)
(BIRDSONG)
(JANE BREATHING HEAVILY)
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(BREATHING QUICKENS) (WIND HOWLING)
(RUMBLING)
(SIGHS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER IN RECEPTION)
RECEPTIONIST: Right, I see. We'll see you at 10:30 tomorrow.
(CHATTER STOPS)
(PHONE RINGING)
If you're here for an interview, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to...
get moving on. Don't worry.
The reason I'm here is uh... I've been looking into
some of the things that happened the night of the crash.
I read your articles in the Dumfries Courier.
Ah, well, at least somebody does. (CHUCKLES)
So, um, this uh...
..anonymous phone call made to the US Embassy in Helsinki,
5th December last year. Yes, I-I-I know about that.
I saw the report on Newsnight, yeah.
Embassy dismissed it as a hoax.
That doesn't strike you as odd?
I didn't dwell on it too much, to be honest.
Well, the caller stated that a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt
would be blown up over Christmas by someone associated
with a Syrian-backed terror group.
I... I'm sorry, I don't see...
Dumfries and Galloway police are currently working on the theory
that the bomb originated in Frankfurt.
Frankfurt? Aye.
So we've got Pan Am, Christmas and Frankfurt,
all mentioned in this supposed hoax call.
Yet a memo pinned up in the US Embassy
advised all staff not...
..to fly Pan Am over Christmas.
The public never got that warning.
Flora's flight to New York was four days before Christmas.
One of Pan Am's busiest times of the year.
One of their busiest routes. 259 people died on board that night.
Sixteen of them were crew. There was 243 passengers on board.
So if my math is correct,
when Flight 103 left Heathrow,
there was 165 seats...
..empty.
I remember.
She was surprised how easy it was to buy a ticket.
Rumour has it some of those empty seats had been booked
by embassy staff to fly home for the holidays.
Did they change their flights when they heard about that phone call?
But they can't have done.
It was a hoax call.
It doesn't end there. (CLEARS THROAT)
October last year.
German police conducted a raid,
codenamed "Autumn Leaves",
on a Palestinian terror group, the PFLP-GC.
Autumn Leaves, PFLP-GC. What does that stand for?
Yeah, I know. It's a bit of a mouthful.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, General Command.
Now during the raid,
police found explosive devices
built into Toshiba radio-cassette recorders,
which the PFLP-GC were planning to put on commercial airliners.
The German police arrested 17 members of the organisation,
and then contacted the Department of Transport,
who issued that alert to all UK airports
in November last year.
It mentions explosive devices.
It does.
Now, brace yourself, Jim.
I've got a source in the Lockerbie investigation
who says that his forensic people
have found several blast-damaged pieces of a radio cassette-recorder
and part of an instruction manual.
Let me guess. Toshiba?
You guess right.
(BREATHING SOFTLY)
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(CASE RATTLES)
(MUSIC BECOMES HOPEFUL)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(BUS ENGINE ROARING)
(DOOR OPENS)
CHANNON: So if you can, put him in at half past four
and delay the other one until sometime next week.
Jim, how are you? Sorry you've been kept waiting.
Minister, I just wanted to ask you about what your department knew
about the phone call warning to the American Embassy in Helsinki.
Yes, I was briefed on that some weeks after.
But it was a hoax, though, wasn't it?Well, that's what they claimed,
but some things have come to light since it was reported.
Forgive me, Jim, but this is a US Embassy matter,
not one for the Department of Transport.
Now, I'm afraid I've been called to a cabinet meeting.
I'm very sorry. What about this?
Well, this is restricted. Where did you get it?
It's a telex sent to all UK airports' heads of security by Mr James Jack,
your department's aviation security advisor, warning...
Yes, it was a general warning.
So it was not deemed serious enough...
..to let the general public know about the possible dangers?
Let them decide whether to fly or not?
Listen... (SIGHS)
The decisions we make are made on the best advice.
If we made public every warning we received,
we would have to shut the airports down,
and ground hundreds of flights daily.
There would be uproar.
Our country and the US receive these threats on a weekly basis
because of who we are and what we stand for.
I just want answers, Minister.
Yes, I do understand.
This is an incredibly difficult time.
Let me look into it. See what I can find for you.
NEWSREADER: 'Paul Channon, the Transport Secretary,
has today been sacked by the Prime Minister
as part of her cabinet reshuffle.
In off-the-record comments to journalists,
Channon let slip that investigators were days away from an arrest.
(OVERLAPPING) 'The Daily Mirror minced no words
about Channon being the unnamed source.'
'Authorities say they have
insufficient evidence to charge a suspect.'
THATCHER: The most important thing is to track these people down,
so that they are brought to justice.
And punish those who did this - if you can ever find them.
'There is an intelligence community consensus,
the destruction of Pan Am 103 was carried out by the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine General Command.'
'Pointing the finger of blame may prove difficult, however.
The group's leader, Ahmed Jibril,
acted on orders from Iran, with acquiescence.'
'President Hafez Assad of Syria
is believed by US Intelligence to control the two Palestinian groups
which have planted bombs on airliners in the past.'
NEWS HOST: Until the United States firmly establishes
the responsibility for the bombing, the administration is able to avoid
making the very difficult choice of what to do about it.
(TAXI BRAKES SQUEAL)
(CHARACTERS CLACKING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(DOOR CLOSES)
You made it. Wonderful.
Bit of a rush, but yes.
Um... Jim and Jane Swire, everyone.
Hello.
Welcome to UK Families Flight 103.
We should, first of all, thank Jim
for his initiative in approaching Channon for a meeting.
It wasn't me who got him sacked, I promise you. (ALL CHUCKLE)
Either way, a question I'd like to start with
is if Channon knows,
if the detectives on the investigation know,
why don't they make the names public?
MAN: Well, my guess is they're still gathering evidence,
and Channon spoke out of turn.
Could be he was grand-standing to those journalists.
But why all so secretive?
Probably because it involves Iran and Syria, Palestinian terrorists,
they need to tread carefully, build their case.
Seven months since the crash,
and we're still all in the dark about why or how.
And these warnings you've told us about, Jim, I mean...
why has no one explained them?
I've written several times to the new Transport Secretary, Cecil Parkinson,
but so far, I've had nothing back.
Except, "We will reply in due course."
Maybe he's trying to keep his job. (ALL CHUCKLE)
I have had one idea. Um...
(CASE POPS OPEN)
Uh, please forgive the quality.
I'm not the most adept with a photocopier.
(MUTTERS OF THANKS)
And this is another plane crash?
Yeah. In June 1972...
..BEA Flight 548 came down near Staines.
One hundred and eighteen people died.
One day after it happened,
the conservative government ordered
an independent inquiry into the crash.
To find out how it happened,
and to make sure it never happened again.
So.
The criminal investigation will seek to find out...
..who planted that bomb.
But what we should be asking is how it happened.
How did a bomb get through airport security and onto Flight 103?
Were mistakes made? Were threat warnings ignored?
Why is there so much secrecy around this?
We have a right to know.
And if the Staines crash merited an inquiry, then so does Lockerbie.
Thank you, Jim. I-I think we're all agreed on that.
Now, next on the agenda,
we were going to appoint a spokesperson for the group.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
(COLLECTIVE CHUCKLE)
(BIRDSONG OUTSIDE)
(CHUCKLES)
What?
I have to look smart.
(CHUCKLES) You're going on the radio, Jim.
RADIO DJ: With me I have Dr Jim Swire,
spokesman for the UK Families, Flight 103.
Now, you're currently lobbying for an inquiry.
Is that right? That is correct, Jonathan.
We're calling for an across the board, independent inquiry,
to look into the response of the Department of Transport
and the British government to the warning
they received from the German police.
We want to know why it wasn't acted upon.
Who knew what and when.
NEWSREADER: 'Many questions are still being asked
about the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
Was the official investigation obstructed?
Has there been a cover-up?' 'Transport Department
says it can't confirm a news report quoting it,
that baggage on Pan Am 103 from Frankfurt
was not screened again at London.'
Whoever was behind this surely cannot believe their luck
at how easy it was for their bomb
to be loaded onto a commercial flight and blow it up,
causing hundreds of deaths.
That is why we're pushing for this inquiry.
MP: They were pushing very hard for a public inquiry.
I said to them that we didn't rule that out,
but our main concern was the criminal investigation...
WOMAN: Mr Swire, I'm sorry to say
that Mr Parkinson is sitting late in Parliament tonight.
PARKINSON: The inquiry that Dr Swire is asking for
will be counterproductive to Britain's international standing
in its fight against terrorism.
(DOOR CLOSES) (BRIEFCASE THUDS)
I am exhausted.
Sick of the sound of my own voice.
What's that?
I only just found it.
"Dear Miss Swire...
..I'm pleased to inform you that you have been accept...
accepted to study postgraduate medicine."
Did you know she'd applied?
No, I didn't.
We must celebrate.
(CORK POPS)
(DRINK POURS)
She used to love coming here as a child to feed the ducks.
Congratulations, Flora.
Well done, darling.
She was following in your footsteps.
No, no. She'd have eclipsed me.
She'd have done something incredible.
(BIRDSONG)
(DOOR CLOSES) Take a seat.
Some good news. Parkinson's finally agreed to a meeting.
Well, Jim Swire constantly snapping at his heels finally worked.
(GRUNTS) A gift.
I'm too good to you.
My article about this
should hopefully be in the Glasgow Tribune next week.
I wanted to give you a sneak preview.
I know.
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
(DOOR CLOSES)
Good afternoon. Welcome.
Um, have you been offered tea or coffee?
No, thank you.
Straight down to business, then.
(GRUNTS)
Helsinki warning,
not acted upon.
German police warning following the...
..discovery of Toshiba devices
in the Autumn Leaves raid, not acted upon.
And now, this...
letter your department sent to Heathrow Management,
seemingly dated December 19th,
two days before Flight 103 came down.
This time, it included a German police photo
of the radio-cassette recorder
in which they had found explosive devices.
Your department's advice to security staff
is that if they're suspicious about anything contained
within a piece of luggage, they should place it in the hold.
Which is exactly where the bomb on Flight 103 went off.
Dr Swire, if I-
So that even if they think something is potentially dangerous,
they're still to allow it onto the plane.
Beggars belief.
This advice was given on the basis
that most terror attacks on commercial airliners
are hijackings.
Our reasoning for advising
that luggage containing anything suspicious was put in the hold
was to separate a potential hijacker from his weapon,
and thus alleviate their ability to hijack a plane.
I'm sorry, but that-that is not good enough.
This proves you had legitimate concerns.
Why else include a picture of the radio-cassette recorder?
Well, as I've just outlined- That's not even the worst of it.
I have it on good authority
that although this was dated December 19th, it was received late.
It only reached Heathrow after the plane came down.
Because your department couldn't get photocopies made in time.
So it wasn't just ignored, like the Helsinki warning.
It was practically withheld.
You failed to alert your airports to three legitimate threats.
You-You failed to keep your passengers safe.
You failed in your duty.
We have to weigh up...
No, no. You withheld information, Minister.
Your government knew.
Your department knew.
Heathrow management, the State Department,
American Embassy staff, they all knew.
The only people who didn't know? The passengers on Flight 103.
With respect-
No, you talk about respect, but you're showing us none.
Your government is not taking responsibility.
You are denying, you are evading the truth.
And I find it despicable. Jim, please.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(SMACKS LIPS) Perhaps some tea after all.
We'd rather have an inquiry.
I have nightmares.
Almost every night.
Was our daughter conscious as she fell through the sky?
I've read about it. I...
I shouldn't have, really, but I had to.
The lack of oxygen at 33,000 feet
would have meant Flora lost consciousness immediately.
But as she fell and the oxygen in the atmosphere increased,
she would have come round.
An expert I talked to told me
that Flora might have been conscious
for as much as fifteen seconds.
Fifteen seconds knowing she was falling to certain death.
One...
..two...
three...
..four...
..five...
..six...
..seven...
..eight...
..nine...
..ten...
..eleven...
..twelve...
..thirteen...
..fourteen...
..fifteen.
Of course.
I will take your request to the Prime Minister tomorrow.
(ENGINE IDLING, SHUTTING OFF)
(GRAVEL CRUNCHING UNDERFOOT)
(KEYS JINGLING)
NEWSREADER: After months of deliberation,
the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has announced categorically today
that there will be no independent inquiry
into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103,
which came down over Lockerbie in December last year,
killing all 259 passengers and 11 people on the...'
(TV TURNS OFF)
Are we ever going to know what really happened?
We will, I promise you.
How it happened, why it happened.
Who did it.
I will never stop.
Not until we know the answer to everything.
(GRANDFATHER CLOCK TICKING)
(KEYS JANGLING)
(DOOR CLUNKING)
(TENSE MUSIC)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(HANDCUFFS UNLOCKING) (DOOR CLUNKS OPEN)
(KEYS JANGLING) (DOOR LOCKING)
Did you kill my daughter?
(TENSE MUSIC SWELLS)
(MUSIC ENDS)
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