Thirty-seven years after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, Jaswant Basuta, who narrowly avoided being on the flight, continues to grapple with the event that killed 270 people and the complex feelings of survival.
Basuta was scheduled to be on the December 21, 1988, flight from London Heathrow to New York JFK. He had been attending a family wedding in Belfast and was set to fly back to join his wife, Surinder, who had started a new job in New York. However, after checking in and placing his suitcase on the plane, Basuta decided to have a few beers at the airport bar with his brother-in-law. He missed the flight, running to the gate only to see the plane pulling away.
Just 38 minutes after takeoff, a bomb planted by Libyan terrorists detonated aboard the aircraft, killing all 259 passengers and crew, as well as 11 residents of Lockerbie, Scotland. The bombing became the deadliest terror attack on British soil and, at the time, the largest loss of American life to terrorism, a distinction later surpassed by the September 11 attacks.
Basuta, then 47, was not aware of the bombing until his wife, who had been told he was on the flight, received a call from the police confirming he was alive. He was questioned by Heathrow airport police for six hours, as his suitcase had been on board, leading his family to believe he had perished.
Despite his close call, Basuta, now 84, expresses lingering guilt and questions about his survival. "Even today, I still remember every passenger, the 270 people who died," he said. "We were supposed to die together. We were like a family." He experiences mixed feelings, pondering his connection to those who died and why he was spared. His faith offers a framework, with his community suggesting it was God's will that he was prevented from boarding.
He vividly recalls the everyday moments before the flight, including making faces at two young girls and promising to bring them chocolate, a promise he could not fulfill as they were among the victims. He also spent years seeking out others affected by the tragedy, eventually connecting with a man whose son was killed in the bombing, sharing grief with him.
In 1991, two Libyans, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifa Fhimah, were charged in connection with the bombing. Fhimah was acquitted, but al-Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was later released on compassionate grounds in 2009 and died in 2012. The case is not entirely closed, as a third accused bomber, Abu Agela Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi, faces trial in federal court in Washington, D.C. Al-Marimi, who was extradited to the U.S. in 2022, is accused of being a bomb maker and reportedly confessed to involvement under duress.
Basuta, who maintained a low profile after the bombing due to initial suspicions, believes al-Megrahi should not have been released, drawing a parallel to the lack of compassion shown to the victims. He holds a strong conviction that those responsible should face severe punishment.
While a new Netflix drama depicts scenes from that day, including his near-miss, Basuta was not consulted and has not seen the series. He remains focused on his faith and the enduring memory of the lives lost.