The Truth about Lockerbie - MartinFrost.ws

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lThe Lockerbie bomb
A tale of three atrocities
Once I realised the Lockerbie bomb couldn't have been in a suitcase, I started wondering what shape it
could be. I was also struck by something Jim Swire noticed quite early on – the precise time between
Flight 103 taking off and the Lockerbie device exploding, which matched that of a known PFLP GC
device. I soon realised it was a very different device indeed to the one described at Megrahi's trial.
The bomb that the Iranian planted in AVE4041 PA was in fact an imitation of a PFLP GC device, which
used a so-called ice-cube timer. PFLP GC bombs using ice-cube timers are triggered by changes in air
pressure, as the aircraft climbs from the ground. Once the trigger is set, a charging circuit completes
and detonates the bomb around 30 minutes later. In mid-1988, the obvious scapegoat for the Iranian
and CIA plot was the PFLP GC so it made sense to mimic one of their bombs.
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Box out: The bomb in luggage container AVE4041
As the plane gained height, the drop in air pressure would cause the pressure transducer to complete
an electronic timer circuit within the bomb. This caused a battery to begin to slowly leak charge into a
capacitor. After around 30 minutes, the power stored in the capacitor reached a threshold and flash
discharged into the bomb detonator, which then went off went off. This triggered the bomb.
Notice that important aspect of this device is not when the 'timer' is set, but the fact that the timer is
activated when the pressure is reduced during the aircraft's climb to cruising level, and aircraft on
normal flights, which that of Pan Am 103 was until the fatal explosion, have predictable climb rates. So
the bomb can stand inactive on the ground for as long as the bomber wants - the set timer starts from
the moment when the plane reaches a certain height.
[SEE APPENDIX]
On the fateful day of the bombing, Flight 103 finally lifted off the runway at 18:25 GMT after being
delayed from its scheduled departure time of 18:00 GMT. Once it was clear of Heathrow, the plane
turned towards Scotland and began to rise through the cold winter air. Two minutes after take-off, when
the plane rose to 6,000ft, the ice-cube timer trigger set. Flight 103's life expectancy was now measured
in minutes.
At 18:56 GMT, the aircraft reached its cruising altitude of 31,000 feet (9,450 m) as it approached the
Scottish border. Two minutes later, at 18:58 GMT, Flight 103 contacted Shanwick Oceanic Control, the
air traffic control responsible for international airspace over the north-east Atlantic. “Good Evening
Scottish,” said Ray Wagner, Flight 103's co-pilot.
Alan Topp, an officer at Oceanic Control, saw the flight approach and cross the corner of the Solway
Firth on his secondary radar. Two minutes later he replied “Uh, this is Scottish. Ident, please”. Flight
103's Captain replied: “This is Clipper 103, requesting oceanic clearance.” Topp asked the pilot to send
an identifying radio transmission.“Clipper 103, good evening. Uh, for identification, squawk 0357 with
ident please.”
Topp received the squawk and the Flight 103 changed its course, ready for its flight over the Atlantic.
“Clipper 103, route direct, 59 North 10 West to Kennedy. Maintain flight level 310,” he said. Suddenly,
the first radar return after 19:02:50 showed no return from the aircraft. Precisely like all successful
PFLP GC style aircraft bombs, such as the bombing of the TW841 flight between Italy and Greece, the
ice-cube bomb's detonator caused it to explode in the baggage container 32 minutes after it had been
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