What if Flight 103 was targeted not as an attack on America but to assassinate a group of rival spies instead? At least six of the victims were US Intelligence agents, which is too much of a coincidence for some ... One of the victims was a military intelligence officer called Major Charles McKee. He was running a secret mission to Lebanon. ibid.
A witness said that he saw the co-defendants at Malta Airport on the day of the bombing. He claims he saw the two men with the bomb-bag. But the trail judges had doubts about much of his evidence because the witness was in the pay of US Intelligence. ibid.
The DEA were supposedly running a controlled drug route between Frankfurt and Detroit through Heathrow. Stewart Nicol, journalist
There was a rumour that the arms for hostages deal was in the air. Stewart Nicol
Early on in the police investigation into what had happened they came up with what was then a very credible line of inquiry that the flight had been targeted purely and simply to get rid of McKee. An indication as to just how correct this story was was that they offered me as the author of the story an interview with anyone I felt I was able to share the secret of the source with, including the then prime minister Mrs Thatcher. David Johnston, journalist
The official version is just downright wrong; Libya had nothing to do with it. Tam Dalyell, former MP
A police sergeant came to me to say that he was very uncomfortable that there were so many Americans sort of ruffling round searching for things in a way that would be quite unacceptable in a British murder investigation. Tam Dalyell
Had it been known in the United States that the government knew enough to pull the VIPs off – the Moscow Embassy, the South Africans, the servicemen – and left the youngsters, the students, to travel to their death, the American public would have been furious that the government could have done any such thing. Tam Dalyell
Colonel Gaddafi paid compensation because he desperately wanted to get back into the international trading circuit and have sanctions lifted. Tam Dalyell
I’m angry at the injustice of it. I also don’t understand how those judges ever arrived at that conclusion which will be proved unsafe one day. Tam Dalyell
I think it’s highly unlikely that one group of CIA officers would try to assassinate another group of CIA officers and kill lots of civilians in the process. David Shayler
It’s also Britain’s worst miscarriage of justice. The wrong man was convicted. And the real killers are still out there. John Ashton, investigator
Using the labels police traced the damaged clothing back to a clothes shop in Malta called Mary’s House. Lockerbie – The Lost Evidence, BBC Scotland 2012
The dying man [Megrahi] who has always protested his innocence feels evidence was hidden from him. ibid.
If it was dry on December 7th [purchase of brolly from shop] that couldn’t have been the day the clothes were bought ... Before December 7th there was no evidence Megrahi was in Malta. ibid.
Tests raise doubts that the fragments matches the timers sent to Libya. ibid.
In 1972 the Hawker-Siddlely Triumph is the pride of British aviation. When BEA flight 548 falls from the sky moments after take-off, the carnage shocks the nation. Aircrash: Terror at Take-Off, Channel 5 2015
A Boeing 747 slams into the English countryside. Investigators have all the clues they need to figure out the cause of the accident, but they can't explain why no-one on board did anything to prevent it. Aircraft: The Downing of Flight 8509, Channel 5 2015
Strict adherence to cultural norms put the crew of Korean Flight 8509 in danger from the moment they entered the cockpit. ibid.
Athens Greece November 11th 2007: Olympic Airways Flight 266 has just taken off ... An incredibly bright star-light object ... Two other flights in the area report the same object. Alien Files Unsealed s2e7, History 2013
Japan Airlines Flight 1628 Anchorage Alaska November 17th 1986 ... Two UFOs appear right in front of the plane. ibid.
Melbourne Australia October 21st 1978 ... a flight across the Bass Straits ... ‘long with a shiny metal surface’. ibid.
Flight 94 Syracuse New York March 12th 1977: a DC10 ... They all see a UFO ... appears to be towing the jet. ibid.
To try and break the deadlock of the trenches, Germany decided to deploy a devastating new weapon, taking the war into the air. WWI: The First Modern War s1e3: Massive Air Attacks, 2014
The LZ4 was Zeppelin’s largest airship to date. 446 feet ... It had a top speed of 30mph. ibid.
Life in the trenches was primitive and miserable. ibid.
There were only 33 anti-aircraft guns in the whole of England at the time. ibid.
Like all early aircraft the BE2c was made of wood and canvas. ibid.
Type R Super Zeppelin 650 feet 60 mph ... Twice as many bombs as before. ibid.
The deliberate targeting of civilians with aerial bombing. ibid.
For me, one man stands out: Captain Eric Winkle Brown, probably the best pilot this country has ever produced. James Holland, Britain’s Greatest Pilot: The Extraordinary Story of Captain Winkle Brown, BBC 2014
Captain Eric Winkle Brown has flown 487 different aircraft types. This world record is unlikely to ever be beaten. ibid.
During the Great War there had been no dramatic increase in aircraft speed ... Aircraft range, however, was vastly extended. The War in the Air, Movies4Men 2013
The RAF had two fighters which could match those of the Luftwaffe – one being the rugged Hawker Hurricane ... the Super Marine Spitfire. ibid.
The RAF introduced the Hawker Tempest, which ... could fly at over 450 miles per hour. ibid.
The Aircraft Carrier took over as the Navy’s principle weapon from the Battleship. ibid.
It did not go entirely unnoticed that the reaction was rather different when the US warship Vincennes shot down an Iranian civilian airliner in a commercial corridor off the coast of Iran – out of ‘a need to prove the viability of Aegis’, its high-tech missile system, in the judgement of US Navy commander David Carlson who ‘wondered aloud in disbelief’ as he monitored events from a nearby naval vessel. Noam Chomsky, Deterring Democracy
Somewhere around the world in unknown hands are seventy-four hugely accurate missiles that can bring down a 747. Each one is worth $50,000. Misha Glenny, McMafia
It’s the greatest aviation mystery of all time: Malaysian Airlines flight 370 vanished without a trace. Malaysian 370: What Happened? National Geographic 2016
Flight 370 has disappeared over the Gulf of Thailand where there is limited radar coverage. ibid.
Two passengers boarded the plane illegally … No-one on board seems to have any connection with any terrorist group. ibid.
The plane had enough fuel to keep flying on autopilot for seven hours. ibid.
The plane’s pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had recently lost more than a million dollars in the stocks market, and was scheduled to repay the debt when he got back to Singapore. ibid.
Every day six thousand planes and six hundred thousand people are in the skies above Britain. Guiding every plane is a hidden armoury of controllers. Performing one of the world’s greatest juggling acts. A place of adventure, wonder, and danger. Skies Above Britain I: Flying Into Danger, BBC 2016
They guide thousands of planes in and out of British airports. ibid.
One of the most powerful combat planes in the world, the Typhoon can break the speed of sound in just thirty seconds. ibid.
Less than a hundred British pilots are qualified to fly a typhoon. It costs eight million pounds to train each Typhoon pilot. ibid.
Every day air traffic controllers guide a relentless flow planes through their patch of sky ... Controllers must always be ready for the unexpected. Skies Above Britain II: Conquering the Skies
More than one in four of us has a fear of flying. ibid.
During bad weather fewer planes can land which means a traffic jam builds up in the sky. ibid.