Over 30 years ago Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Scotland. Today, the person suspected of building the bomb is in US Custody

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyor...light-103-bombmaker/



Families of local victims react to arrest of alleged Pan Am Flight 103
By Lisa Rozner

December 11, 2022 / 11:37 PM / CBS New York

NEW YORK -- An arrest was made Sunday more than three decades after an international terrorist attack that killed 270 people.

Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed back in 1988 as it headed for John F. Kennedy International Airport from Europe. The man accused of making the bomb is now in U.S. custody.

Nearly 200 of the victims were American, and dozens were from the Tri-State Area.

Some of the loved ones told CBS2 the news brought them a sense of peace.

READ MORE: Suspect in 1988 Lockerbie bombing now in U.S. custody

For decades, devastation has haunted the families of 259 people on board Flight 103 -- a New York-bound flight from London on Dec. 21, 1988. There were 190 Americans on board and 11 people were killed on the ground after the plane exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland.

On Sunday, snow fell on the memorial that honors 35 Syracuse University students that were killed. One of them was 20-year-old Rick Monetti of South Jersey. His sister said he was returning from studying abroad in London.

"He just had a way about him, whether it was a smile or joke, a kind word. People always felt better about themselves after being around him," Kara Weipz said.

Nearly 34 years after his loss, she learned from the Department of Justice that the man suspected of making the bomb that was on the plane was in U.S. custody and will face two criminal counts in Washington.

Abu Agila Masud is the third Libyan intelligence official charged in the U.S. in connection with the attack. He would be the first to appear in an American courtroom for prosecution.

The capture of Masud, who was charged nearly two years ago, marked a long-awaited milestone in the decades-long investigation.

Myself and some buddies were drinking the day that happened at a downstairs bar called Hungry Charley's, just off the campus of Syracuse University. I vividly remember R.E.M. playing (Orange Crush...yuge song there at the time for obvious reasons) and they cut it off to announce the crash and the loss of the SU students. We beat feet back to the base thinking that we were going to war.

Damn, that's been a long time ago.

Are there any more basketball players we're trying to get back?


(jaded disgusted anger disguised as dark humor)

Sorry to read that he’s in custody rather than that we’re getting ready to repatriate, burn, or bury at sea his remains. It is unfortunate that a single of our tax dollars will be spent keeping him. Wishing for a speedy trial and a speedier execution.

My wife’s neighbor had a daughter that was two years older than us on that flight. She was 19 years old when she was murdered.

For those who enjoy the fictional Mitch Rapp series started by Vince Flynn, it was this event that motivated Mitch to enter the special ops world. His girlfriend (possibly a student at Syracuse University) was on that plane.

I grew up half an hour south of Syracuse but left the state ten years earlier.