Today Marks Anniversary of Tragic Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing

On December 21st, 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Scotland while en route to New York City killing all 259 passengers aboard, and 11 people on the ground. Among the victims were 35 Syracuse University students who were on their way home from studying abroad.

British investigators concluded that the cause of the explosion was a bomb located in the luggage compartment. The only person that was ever convicted for the crime was Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi. According to the New York Times, al-Megrahi died in 2012. Local photographer Nancy Ford remembers the tragic day well. She stated on her Facebook page on Wednesday morning,

Today is a day I take pause. I will never forget. I was on campus at Syracuse the moment the word got out. A lot of students had gone home already for Christmas break... but the already quiet campus fell so deafeningly silent as time just stopped. Pam Am 103...Thirty-five SU students lost their lives... including a handful of my photography classmates who were studying abroad. I will never, ever forget that silence. I can still hear it 28 years later.

There are several memorials to honor the victims throughout the United States, and Europe. One of those is actually on the campus of Syracuse University. Remember all the victims, their families, and loved ones in your thoughts today.