On December 21 , 1988 , Pan Am Flight 103 , a Pan American World Airways flight from London 's Heathrow International Airport to New York City 's John F. Kennedy International Airport , was destroyed mid flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie , killing 270 people , including 11 on the ground . On January 31 , 2001 , Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted by a panel of three Scottish judges of bombing the flight , and was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment . In 2002 , Libya offered financial compensation to victims ' families in exchange for lifting of UN and U.S. sanctions . In 2007 Megrahi was granted leave to appeal against his conviction , and in August 2009 was released on compassionate grounds by the Scottish executive due to his terminal cancer
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
History of terrorism