Almost one year on from Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al Megrahi’s early release on compassionate grounds one of the first reporters on the scene that night, Kaye Adams, has spoken of how the disaster still affects her.

The bombing of Pan Am 103 was the deadliest terrorist attack on US citizens prior to the Septermber 11 bombings. Many of the 189 Americans who died were students heading home for Christmas after studying in Britain. It remains the worst mass murder in British legal history.

“The tragedy that befell Lockerbie and the passengers of Pan Am 103 has an enduring resonance for me. As a young reporter for STV, I was on duty that night and found myself one of the first journalists on the scene”, she said.

STV is to air a special programme on the disaster and the international investigation which led to the Libyan being convicted of the murder of 270 people. It also reflects the outrage in the US over the Scottish Government’s controversial decision to allow Megrahi to return home to Libya to die. 

Kaye added: “Needless to say, I had never witnessed anything like it and hope never to again.  Even after more that 20 years, watching and recording the commentary for this documentary was an emotional experience but fascinating to see all the pieces of the jigsaw laid out.  It is both illuminating and moving and maintains the balance between the two admirably.”

Pan Am 103 was carrying 259 passengers and crew on a routine flight from London to New York on Wednesday 21 December 1988 when it broke apart and plunged six miles to the countryside below.  

Parts of the plane fell onto Lockerbie, destroying homes and killing 11 Scots, three of them children.  For emergency workers accustomed to saving lives it was a night of unparalleled horror.

The programme features archive news footage and new interviews with the relatives of the victims, Scottish and American detectives who led the investigation and cancer specialists who examined Megrahi prior to his release, and Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill who defends his controversial decision.

The Lockerbie Bomber: Sent Home to Die will be shown on STV at 9pm on  Monday August 9.

THE LOCKERBIE STORY

• Kenny MacAskill: No backroom deal done on Lockerbie bomber's release
• Love story from the ashes

EXTENDED VIDEO INTERVIEWS

• Jim Swire
• Kenny MacAskill
• Bob Monetti
• Anthony Busuttil
• Stuart Henderson