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Was Groby minutes from disaster?
Everyone on board the Boeing 747 died, along with 11 residents of Lockerbie, leaving the lives of their families and friends shattered. If the bomb had exploded earlier in the flight another community could have endured the suffering experienced by the people of Lockerbie? Could it have been Groby? And how prepared would our emergency services have been?
The Boeing 747 arrived at London Heathrow airport from San Francisco on December 21, 1988. After a six hour turnaround it was ready to operate the scheduled flight PA103 to New York Kennedy airport, taking off at 6.25pm. Thirty eight minutes later the flight disappeared from radar screens to be replaced with multiple radar signals seen fanning out downwind for a considerable distance. Debris from the aircraft was strewn along two trails, one of which extended as far as the east coast of England.
Two major portions of the wreckage of the aircraft fell on the town of Lockerbie. Other large parts, including the flight deck and forward fuselage section, landed in the countryside to the east of the town. Residents of Lockerbie reported that shortly after 7.00pm there was a rumbling noise like thunder which rapidly increased to deafening proportions like the roar of an engine under power. The noise appeared to come from a meteor-like object which was trailing flame and came down in the north-eastern part of the town. A larger, dark delta shaped object resembling an aircraft wing landed at about the same time in the Sherwood area of the town. The delta shaped object was not on fire while in the air, but a very large fireball ensued which was of short duration and carried large amounts of debris into the air. The lighter particles from the fireball were deposited several miles downwind. A crater 155 feet long was made by the wing. A computer database was compiled to keep a record of all 1200 items of wreckage found.
Did flight PA103 fly over or close to Groby?
“It would take time for me to see how near the aircraft flew to Groby,” said Mr M. Charles at the Air Accidents Investigation Branch at the time, “but many transatlantic aircraft are likely to be close to you.”
With a spread of wreckage over an area of 800 square miles, and only 38 minutes between take off and the explosion, it is clear that a wide band of the country was probably only minutes away from disaster and tragedy on December 21, 1988.
And how would Leicestershire cope with a Lockerbie type disaster?
“Within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland there is a strong partnership of agencies brought together under the Local Resilience Forum (LRF),” explained a County Council spokesperson. “These agencies work together in planning, training and exercising for such incidents. The LRF and its constituent members are as well prepared as they can be, but there are always unexpected things that happen – no two emergencies are ever the same, even during training exercises. We continue to learn and revise our arrangements where necessary.”
In addition to regular training exercises there is awareness training of the roles and issues involved and lessons are learned from major incidents in other parts of the country. In the case of an impact like a plane the emergency services would be in control of the initial rescue phase, with Local Authorities giving support with emergency lighting, lifting equipment or any other resources they could provide. The role of the County, City and District Councils would depend on the services required and whether there was any need for such things as evacuation or emergency feeding centres. Council properties, such as leisure centres and schools, could have a key role to play in certain circumstances.
The County, City and district Councils work closely with the utility companies and voluntary agencies to develop emergency plans which dovetail together and make the most effective use of resources.
This will be reassuring news for Groby residents who will continue to hope there is never a need to put the plans into action. The continued suffering of all those affected by the Lockerbie bombing is a reminder that the queues, delays and searches at our airports are all worth while if they prevent injury or loss of life.