On 21 December 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 exploded mid-air as a result of a bomb on board , and the wreckage crashed in the town of Lockerbie , within the police area of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary . In the UK , the event is referred to as the " Lockerbie air disaster " , the " Lockerbie bombing " , or simply " Lockerbie " . Eleven townspeople were killed in Sherwood Crescent , where the plane 's wings and fuel tanks plummeted in a fiery explosion , leaving a huge crater . The 270 fatalities ( 259 on the plane , 11 in Lockerbie ) included citizens of 21 nations
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary