The Bombing of Pan Am 103

[lenaitch]

I just finished this six-part Netflix/BBC collaboration on the aftermath and investigation of the downing of Pan Am flight 103 in Lockerbie Scotland. They admittedly compressed some of the events and characters, but I thought it was a compelling and credible telling of the story. There was a smattering of the usual inter-agency conflict, which is the staple of just about every American cop show, but nobody came off as the villain. While the main story line follows the police investigation, it also touches on the community and families.

I remember attending a disaster management conference several years ago and one of the guest speakers was a government official from the county of Dumfries and Galloway who discussed the civilian impact and response, including the sheer magnitude of size of the scene (2000 sq. km. according to Wiki). At the time, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary was apparently the smallest police service in Scotland.

 

[PMedMoe]

That was a really good series.

 

[daftandbarmy]

I just finished this six-part Netflix/BBC collaboration on the aftermath and investigation of the downing of Pan Am flight 103 in Lockerbie Scotland. They admittedly compressed some of the events and characters, but I thought it was a compelling and credible telling of the story. There was a smattering of the usual inter-agency conflict, which is the staple of just about every American cop show, but nobody came off as the villain. While the main story line follows the police investigation, it also touches on the community and families.

I remember attending a disaster management conference several years ago and one of the guest speakers was a government official from the county of Dumfries and Galloway who discussed the civilian impact and response, including the sheer magnitude of size of the scene (2000 sq. km. according to Wiki). At the time, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary was apparently the smallest police service in Scotland.

I know a member of one of the RAF SAR teams that was deployed to the crash site. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience for him.

 

[lenaitch]

I know a member of one of the RAF SAR teams that was deployed to the crash site. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience for him.

No doubt. The series doesn't really touch on that aspect, simply mentioning 'victims' or 'bodies' leaving gentle viewers to assume they would be intact. I knew a few guys who responded to the AC621 crash in now-Brampton in 1970 who described a similar type scene.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

No doubt. The series doesn't really touch on that aspect, simply mentioning 'victims' or 'bodies' leaving gentle viewers to assume they would be intact. I knew a few guys who responded to the AC621 crash in now-Brampton in 1970 who described a similar type scene.

I know a number of the Sea King crew members who responded to SwissAir 111 in Peggys Cove. “Bodies” was optimistic.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Pretty well. I have friends who served on the MCDV's that were tasked with Swissair 111 also. Definitely a "marking" event.

 

[PMedMoe]

The series doesn't really touch on that aspect, simply mentioning 'victims' or 'bodies' leaving gentle viewers to assume they would be intact.

It sort of did with the one guy who committed suicide.

 

[mariomike]

I knew a few guys who responded to the AC621 crash in now-Brampton in 1970 who described a similar type scene.

Me too. But, they weren't there long as they were beyond any hope of needing paramedics.

Continuing searches of the crash site produced hundreds of additional human bone fragments.

 

[lenaitch]

Me too. But, they weren't there long as they were beyond any hope of needing paramedics.

A number of our guys were pressed into morgue assistants at the old Woodbridge arena. It was a couple of years before my time and the closest I got was going through the OPP file many years later. A long time friend was the second car into the farmer's field.

 

[mariomike]

A number of our guys were pressed into morgue assistants at the old Woodbridge arena. It was a couple of years before my time and the closest I got was going through the OPP file many years later. A long time friend was the second car into the farmer's field.

I talked to a few of our guys about it. They said they followed the smoke. There was a 30 foot crater. Human remains scattered for hundreds of meters.

They were amazed by the amount of money floating through the air. The police said there must have been money bags aboard and were grabbing it .

Our paramedics were quickly cancelled, as the scene was Code 5 ( Obviously Dead ).

Off-Duty guys were called in to retrieve body parts and transport them to Woodbridge Arena.

However, the Woodbridge Arena had to call the refrigeration guy back in to put it back together as it was being serviced and in pieces. Refrigeration trucks were used to store body parts until the arena was up and working.

The Car Count was not affected , as only off-duty guys were involved with retrieving and transporting body parts.

Apparently, a lot of bones were still being found years later, so I guess they missed some.