Lockerbie is known internationally as the place where , on 21 December 1988 , the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 crashed after a terrorist bomb on board detonated . In the United Kingdom , the event is often referred to as the " Lockerbie disaster " or the " Lockerbie bombing " . Eleven residents of the town were killed in Sherwood Crescent , where the aircraft 's wings and fuel tanks plummeted in a fiery explosion , destroying several houses and leaving a large crater , with debris causing damage to other buildings nearby . All 259 people on the flight also died . The 270 total victims were citizens of 20 different nations . The event remains the deadliest terrorist attack and aviation disaster in Britain
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Lockerbie