On 21 December 1988 , N739PA , the aircraft operating Control the transatlantic leg of the route was destroyed Destroying by a bomb , killing Killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew – a disaster known as the Lockerbie bombing .

Large sections of the aircraft crashed Catastrophe onto residential areas of Lockerbie , Scotland , killing Killing 11 people on the ground .

In 2003 , Gaddafi accepted Agree_or_refuse_to_act responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid Commerce_pay compensation to the families of the victims , although he maintained Preserving that he had never given Giving the order for the attack .

Some relatives of the dead , including the Lockerbie campaigner Dr Jim Swire , believe the bomb was planted Placing at Heathrow airport and not sent Sending via feeder flights from Malta , as the US and UK claim .

The bombings constituted the deadliest terrorist Terrorism attack Attack carried out Action in the history of Spain and the deadliest in Europe since the 1988 bombing Terrorism of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie , Scotland .

52 people of 18 different nationalities , all of whom were UK residents , were killed Killing , and more than 700 were injured Bodily_harm in the attacks Terrorism , making it Causation Britain 's deadliest terrorist incident Attack since the 1988 bombing Terrorism of Pan Am Flight 103 near Lockerbie , Scotland , and England 's deadliest since the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings Terrorism , as well as the country 's first Islamist suicide attack Terrorism .