Details are not disclosed, but UK, Scotland and USA justice and police officials have announced that the alleged maker of the bomb 'Masoud' (he has a very long name). that took down PA103 over Lockerbe, Scotland on December, 1988 is in the custody of USA government. Terrorism charges were brought against him about 2 years ago.. He will likely have an initial court date in a few days in the US Court for the District of District of Columbia. https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/11/uk/locke ... index.html

I have always suspected that a different country was involved.

If this guy is involved, I am glad they finally got him.

Good to see we're not trusting the UK with the prosecution on this one.

He's gotta be well into his 60s if not 70s by now.

Good to see that he is finally caught.


Now, since he's likely very old, they'll likely sentence him to life without parole, right? I don't see how capital punishment would be justified given the added cost, but I personally have no idea, as I am in no way a law expert.

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

Good to see we're not trusting the UK with the prosecution on this one.

He's gotta be well into his 60s if not 70s by now.

To be technically pedantic, there are 3 types of law/jurisdictions in the UK; English law for England & Wales, Northern Irish law for Northern Ireland and Scots law for Scotland. So there isn't such a thing as a UK prosecution.

Why do you not trust the Scottish prosecution? The accused was found guilty and jailed by a Scottish Court (albeit located in The Netherlands). If you have an issue with the early release on compassionate grounds, by the then Scottish Government Justice Secretary, then that of course is another matter.

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

Good to see we're not trusting the UK with the prosecution on this one.

You need to clarify this statement.

scbriml wrote:

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

Good to see we're not trusting the UK with the prosecution on this one.

You need to clarify this statement.

Might have something to do with the other convicted suspect let free from his life sentence because he was ill, even though he killed over 200 people, from Scotland??

That guy was ill and died.
The guy now might have done more than Lockerbie, like a Berlin bomb attack (LaBelle) according to the DOJ. What got this thing rolling is said to have been a Libyan interrogation protocol that was made available to the US.

It's good to know that these people cannot hide.

People take issue with the release because he was responsible for killing 270 people, served 8.5 years, was released to a hero’s welcome in Libya, then went on to live almost 3 more years as a free man.

Sorry about your loved ones who were violently killed in the skies over Scotland, but look at the poor bomber! Doesn’t he look a little sickly? He certainly deserves to become a National hero and live out his days in comfort.


Sorry but the handling of that was absolutely pathetic, and so I can fully understand why no one wants Scotland involved in this case anymore

lxman1 wrote:

scbriml wrote:

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

Good to see we're not trusting the UK with the prosecution on this one.

You need to clarify this statement.

Might have something to do with the other convicted suspect let free from his life sentence because he was ill, even though he killed over 200 people, from Scotland??

That’s a gross oversimplification of a very complex case. One in which many senior legal figures now believe there was a serious miscarriage of justice. It’s certainly not as black and white as you’re painting it.

See the very detailed Wiki article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdelbaset_al-Megrahi

FGITD wrote:

People take issue with the release because he was responsible for killing 270 people, served 8.5 years, was released to a hero’s welcome in Libya, then went on to live almost 3 more years as a free man.

Sorry about your loved ones who were violently killed in the skies over Scotland, but look at the poor bomber! Doesn’t he look a little sickly? He certainly deserves to become a National hero and live out his days in comfort.


Sorry but the handling of that was absolutely pathetic, and so I can fully understand why no one wants Scotland involved in this case anymore

There are certainly many senior legal figures that now believe al Megrahi’s conviction was a serious miscarriage of justice. His guilt does not appear as clear cut as you want to believe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdelbaset_al-Megrahi

cv5880 wrote:

I have also always thought another country had a stronger motive to do this.

What do you mean by another country, or who?

FLYFIRSTCLASS wrote:

Good! Maybe finally justice for those lost. I hope the US seeks the death penalty and actually enforces it! Time to warm up the electric chair! Should be with 30 days of his conviction.

If you know anything about U.S. federal legal process, you know it doesn't work that way.

cv5880 wrote:

Another Middle East country wanting revenge. You can guess who.

Why are people not clear? So you can say the other (strong) theory is that Iran was behind as a retaliation for Iran Air 655.

The Documentary: “The Maltese Double Cross: Lockerbie” explores this theory and lts a great little doc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Malte ... _Lockerbie

lxman1 wrote:

scbriml wrote:

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

Good to see we're not trusting the UK with the prosecution on this one.

You need to clarify this statement.

Might have something to do with the other convicted suspect let free from his life sentence because he was ill, even though he killed over 200 people, from Scotland??

Even though it was suggested several times that Abdul Al Megrahi wasn't actually involved in it after all. I await what happens next with interest.

Wow this family member floored me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9bK16hgQdM&t=364s

FGITD wrote:

People take issue with the release because he was responsible for killing 270 people, served 8.5 years, was released to a hero’s welcome in Libya, then went on to live almost 3 more years as a free man.

Sorry about your loved ones who were violently killed in the skies over Scotland, but look at the poor bomber! Doesn’t he look a little sickly? He certainly deserves to become a National hero and live out his days in comfort.


Sorry but the handling of that was absolutely pathetic, and so I can fully understand why no one wants Scotland involved in this case anymore

Oh dear, if you had actually followed the case in any detail, you might have encountered the evidence that followed the conviction, suggesting a high probability of miscarriage of justice. Your insistence on insulting my country and it's hundreds years old legal system is however, as unimpressive as it is unsophisticated.

PA 103 caused major changes to airline security, in particular stricter controls and requirements of checked bags. That included that the person who checked a bag but doesn't board the flight, it has to be removed as well as further examination of transferred checked baggage. It was a was a mortal wound that in part led to the end of PanAm a few years later. Most of all it meant 270 dead people just before Christmas that year along the breaking of the peace of a small community in Scotland,
If this person is convicted at trial, most likely he will be jailed at the US Supermax prison in Colorado, where terrorist go and never gets out alive.

JannEejit wrote:

FGITD wrote:

People take issue with the release because he was responsible for killing 270 people, served 8.5 years, was released to a hero’s welcome in Libya, then went on to live almost 3 more years as a free man.

Sorry about your loved ones who were violently killed in the skies over Scotland, but look at the poor bomber! Doesn’t he look a little sickly? He certainly deserves to become a National hero and live out his days in comfort.


Sorry but the handling of that was absolutely pathetic, and so I can fully understand why no one wants Scotland involved in this case anymore

Oh dear, if you had actually followed the case in any detail, you might have encountered the evidence that followed the conviction, suggesting a high probability of miscarriage of justice. Your insistence on insulting my country and it's hundreds years old legal system is however, as unimpressive as it is unsophisticated.

You're arguing both sides here. On the one hand, you're mad because someone is "insulting my country and its hundreds year old legal system" while at the same time saying there was "a high probability of miscarriage of justice". Which is it? If there was a miscarriage or justice, then maybe it deserves to be insulted?

FGITD wrote:

People take issue with the release because he was responsible for killing 270 people, served 8.5 years, was released to a hero’s welcome in Libya, then went on to live almost 3 more years as a free man.

Sorry about your loved ones who were violently killed in the skies over Scotland, but look at the poor bomber! Doesn’t he look a little sickly? He certainly deserves to become a National hero and live out his days in comfort.


Sorry but the handling of that was absolutely pathetic, and so I can fully understand why no one wants Scotland involved in this case anymore

It's interesting to note that Jim Swire, who lost his daughter in the Pan Am jet, also believes Megrahi was innocent.

In any case Megrahi's life in Libya after being release is not that much better from prison, really.

johns624 wrote:

You're arguing both sides here. On the one hand, you're mad because someone is "insulting my country and its hundreds year old legal system" while at the same time saying there was "a high probability of miscarriage of justice". Which is it? If there was a miscarriage or justice, then maybe it deserves to be insulted?

A miscarriage of justice may come not from the system itself, but from a concerted effort by some people involved to ensure a guilty verdict.

johns624 wrote:

JannEejit wrote:

FGITD wrote:

People take issue with the release because he was responsible for killing 270 people, served 8.5 years, was released to a hero’s welcome in Libya, then went on to live almost 3 more years as a free man.

Sorry about your loved ones who were violently killed in the skies over Scotland, but look at the poor bomber! Doesn’t he look a little sickly? He certainly deserves to become a National hero and live out his days in comfort.


Sorry but the handling of that was absolutely pathetic, and so I can fully understand why no one wants Scotland involved in this case anymore

Oh dear, if you had actually followed the case in any detail, you might have encountered the evidence that followed the conviction, suggesting a high probability of miscarriage of justice. Your insistence on insulting my country and it's hundreds years old legal system is however, as unimpressive as it is unsophisticated.

You're arguing both sides here. On the one hand, you're mad because someone is "insulting my country and its hundreds year old legal system" while at the same time saying there was "a high probability of miscarriage of justice". Which is it? If there was a miscarriage or justice, then maybe it deserves to be insulted?

My apologies for calling into question the competency of a legal system that apparently detained an innocent man…and then also released him in error. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t I guess.

I followed the case quite closely. While it wasn’t an airtight conviction, most of the appeals consisted of no actual evidence.

Don’t recall where I insulted Scotland there though. It’s possible to question a country’s institutions without insulting the country itself.

Most of the investigators were strongly suspecting Syria, with probable Iranian involvement too.
As mentioned Iran had in their minds cause for revenge with that incompetent shoot down of an airliner, Syrian intelligence had in 1986, groomed an Irishwoman living in London, her ‘boyfriend’ (who was sentenced for this in a UK prison) got her to inadvertently smuggle a bomb on to an El Al flight at LHR, security stopped her at the gate. He was a Syrian intelligence operative as the court case revealed.

What happened in 1990? Iraq invaded Kuwait, facilities, notably ports, were needed in the region for that huge inflow of US forces, including in Syria.
They were part of that Coalition.
All of a sudden the Lockerbie investigation shifted to Libya, they had form true with supporting terrorism, aside from funds from US citizens, Libya in this period was by far the biggest supplier to the IRA, the US had tried to kill Gaddifi in that bombing attack in 1986, though that was linked to an alleged bombing in West Germany that killed some US servicemen in a nightclub.

So it is possible, likely even, that Libya was involved too, just not the two who were convicted.
Iran, Syria and Libya were all in this period deeply involved in supporting terrorism, two had form in going after airliners, one lost an airliner to US action with no action taken against the Captain of the Vincennes.

But as Jim Swire and some others, mostly UK relatives of those on PA103, pointed out there was a sudden swerve to Libya alone when Operation Desert Shield was being put together.
The case against the two Libyans was always somewhat flimsy.

I know the SNP Justice Minister upset many with his grandstanding when he released the ill prisoner, they handled that appallingly.
It was not a British government decision, Scotland has long had a distinct and now more devolved system, if you are going to have a go, at least try to get some basic facts right.
Rather than the typical not well informed knee jerk.
Just think, if the two whose convictions were found unsafe were executed by the US, you might never know who the real perps were, or doesn’t that matter?

RyanairGuru wrote:

GDB wrote:

Most of the investigators were strongly suspecting Syria, with probable Iranian involvement too.
As mentioned Iran had in their minds cause for revenge with that incompetent shoot down of an airliner, Syrian intelligence had in 1986, groomed an Irishwoman living in London, her ‘boyfriend’ (who was sentenced for this in a UK prison) got her to inadvertently smuggle a bomb on to an El Al flight at LHR, security stopped her at the gate. He was a Syrian intelligence operative as the court case revealed.

What happened in 1990? Iraq invaded Kuwait, facilities, notably ports, were needed in the region for that huge inflow of US forces, including in Syria.
They were part of that Coalition.
All of a sudden the Lockerbie investigation shifted to Libya, they had form true with supporting terrorism, aside from funds from US citizens, Libya in this period was by far the biggest supplier to the IRA, the US had tried to kill Gaddifi in that bombing attack in 1986, though that was linked to an alleged bombing in West Germany that killed some US servicemen in a nightclub.

So it is possible, likely even, that Libya was involved too, just not the two who were convicted.
Iran, Syria and Libya were all in this period deeply involved in supporting terrorism, two had form in going after airliners, one lost an airliner to US action with no action taken against the Captain of the Vincennes.

But as Jim Swire and some others, mostly UK relatives of those on PA103, pointed out there was a sudden swerve to Libya alone when Operation Desert Shield was being put together.
The case against the two Libyans was always somewhat flimsy.

I know the SNP Justice Minister upset many with his grandstanding when he released the ill prisoner, they handled that appallingly.
It was not a British government decision, Scotland has long had a distinct and now more devolved system, if you are going to have a go, at least try to get some basic facts right.
Rather than the typical not well informed knee jerk.
Just think, if the two whose convictions were found unsafe were executed by the US, you might never know who the real perps were, or doesn’t that matter?

Massively pedantic, but West Berlin (where the nightclub attack occurred) was officially not part of West Germany/Federal Republic of Germany. West Berlin technically remained under US/British/French military occupation until German reunification. From an aviation perspective, one of the quirks of that era was that Lufthansa was not permitted to fly to TXL.

I didn’t remember it was Berlin, probably because in the 70’s Baader Meinhof bombed US bases in the Western part.

FGITD wrote:

My apologies for calling into question the competency of a legal system that apparently detained an innocent man…and then also released him in error. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t I guess.

If he was wrongly convicted of the crime, how could his release be an error? You're not making any sense.

johns624 wrote:

If there was a miscarriage or justice, then maybe it deserves to be insulted?

I'm sure you appreciate that a miscarriage of justice can be caused by bad faith on the side of the prosecution, right? The rest of the system will work as planned, but if the prosecution acts in bad faith, then you have a problem.

I'm also sure that you appreciate one can find miscarriages of justice in any legal system, including your own, right?

IR655 was on 3 July, PA103 was 21 December.

That would probably be long enough to set up an attack.

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

Good to see we're not trusting the UK with the prosecution on this one.

He's gotta be well into his 60s if not 70s by now.

You should define what exactly you find so wrong with the SCOTTISH justice system. We should trust the good old US justice system instead? A country that still has the death penalty (please release Krishna Maharaj, a UK citizen who everybody says is innocent yet has been on death row for decades and is 83).

ltbewr wrote:

PA 103 caused major changes to airline security, in particular stricter controls and requirements of checked bags. That included that the person who checked a bag but doesn't board the flight, it has to be removed as well as further examination of transferred checked baggage. It was a was a mortal wound that in part led to the end of PanAm a few years later. Most of all it meant 270 dead people just before Christmas that year along the breaking of the peace of a small community in Scotland,
If this person is convicted at trial, most likely he will be jailed at the US Supermax prison in Colorado, where terrorist go and never gets out alive.

Many airlines had already implemented the process of reconciling passengers on board to bags checked by 1988. Pan Am had not. Both the airline and its security administrator were found liable in the wake of the Pan Am 103 bombing investigation, and yes, the attack accelerated the demise of Pan Am, which just 3 years later, ceased operating.

scbriml wrote:

There are certainly many senior legal figures that now believe al Megrahi’s conviction was a serious miscarriage of justice. His guilt does not appear as clear cut as you want to believe.

The public want to see someone arrested and convicted after terrorist outrages so investigations sometimes seem more concerned with reassuring the public than making sure 'the right man' was convicted. I am sure there will be quite a few miscarriages of justice where terrorist acts are concerned. A classic one in the UK was the conviction of the 'Guildford Four' during the IRA bombing campaign in England. It was more or less physically impossible that they could have planted the bomb that exploded in a pub in Guildford but the public needed to be reassured by a conviction!

ContinentalEWR wrote:

ltbewr wrote:

PA 103 caused major changes to airline security, in particular stricter controls and requirements of checked bags. That included that the person who checked a bag but doesn't board the flight, it has to be removed as well as further examination of transferred checked baggage. It was a was a mortal wound that in part led to the end of PanAm a few years later. Most of all it meant 270 dead people just before Christmas that year along the breaking of the peace of a small community in Scotland,
If this person is convicted at trial, most likely he will be jailed at the US Supermax prison in Colorado, where terrorist go and never gets out alive.

Many airlines had already implemented the process of reconciling passengers on board to bags checked by 1988. Pan Am had not. Both the airline and its security administrator were found liable in the wake of the Pan Am 103 bombing investigation, and yes, the attack accelerated the demise of Pan Am, which just 3 years later, ceased operating.

Yes that was direct result of AI182 and the unaccompanied bag that contained the bomb.

art wrote:

scbriml wrote:

There are certainly many senior legal figures that now believe al Megrahi’s conviction was a serious miscarriage of justice. His guilt does not appear as clear cut as you want to believe.

The public want to see someone arrested and convicted after terrorist outrages so investigations sometimes seem more concerned with reassuring the public than making sure 'the right man' was convicted. I am sure there will be quite a few miscarriages of justice where terrorist acts are concerned. A classic one in the UK was the conviction of the 'Guildford Four' during the IRA bombing campaign in England. It was more or less physically impossible that they could have planted the bomb that exploded in a pub in Guildford but the public needed to be reassured by a conviction!

And the Birmingham Six too, who were even told by police that they were scapegoats and the Justice system would not admit a mistake, until eventually they had to.
And people still support the death penalty?
I could list a few others too, cases that took decades in many cases to get to the truth, usually the 'perp' was of lower intelligence so back in the 70's the police had a freer hand in using methods unacceptable today, from hours of constant pressure and 'just sign this and it will stop' to a beating, no taping/filming etc.

GDB wrote:

Most of the investigators were strongly suspecting Syria, with probable Iranian involvement too.
As mentioned Iran had in their minds cause for revenge with that incompetent shoot down of an airliner, Syrian intelligence had in 1986, groomed an Irishwoman living in London, her ‘boyfriend’ (who was sentenced for this in a UK prison) got her to inadvertently smuggle a bomb on to an El Al flight at LHR, security stopped her at the gate. He was a Syrian intelligence operative as the court case revealed.

What happened in 1990? Iraq invaded Kuwait, facilities, notably ports, were needed in the region for that huge inflow of US forces, including in Syria.
They were part of that Coalition.
All of a sudden the Lockerbie investigation shifted to Libya, they had form true with supporting terrorism, aside from funds from US citizens, Libya in this period was by far the biggest supplier to the IRA, the US had tried to kill Gaddifi in that bombing attack in 1986, though that was linked to an alleged bombing in West Germany that killed some US servicemen in a nightclub.

So it is possible, likely even, that Libya was involved too, just not the two who were convicted.
Iran, Syria and Libya were all in this period deeply involved in supporting terrorism, two had form in going after airliners, one lost an airliner to US action with no action taken against the Captain of the Vincennes.

But as Jim Swire and some others, mostly UK relatives of those on PA103, pointed out there was a sudden swerve to Libya alone when Operation Desert Shield was being put together.
The case against the two Libyans was always somewhat flimsy.

I know the SNP Justice Minister upset many with his grandstanding when he released the ill prisoner, they handled that appallingly.
It was not a British government decision, Scotland has long had a distinct and now more devolved system, if you are going to have a go, at least try to get some basic facts right.
Rather than the typical not well informed knee jerk.
Just think, if the two whose convictions were found unsafe were executed by the US, you might never know who the real perps were, or doesn’t that matter?

Very well said.

Even in the UK, there is an ignorance that "British law" exists, when there are 3 distinct legal jurisdictions.

Interestingly the Scottish Justice Secretary at the time, Kenny MacAskill has had this to say about the arrest:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslond ... r-AA15aWzw

Scotland’s former justice secretary has said a man in US custody on suspicion of building the bomb that downed Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 – killing 270 people – was “always high on the list” of suspects.

US officials said on Sunday that Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi had been detained.

But the father of one of the victims said he wants to see the suspect tried before a UN court as opposed to one in the US or Scotland.

Speaking to the BBC, Kenny MacAskill – who as justice secretary opted to release Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds in 2009 after he was convicted of the bombing – said Mas’ud was always a person of interest in the investigation.

“Mas’ud’s involvement has always been suspected, he was always high on the list and was one of the original suspects wanted by the authorities at the outset,” he told Good Morning Scotland on Monday.

“The only surprise is that he’s now been apprehended, they’ve been looking for him for a while, Gaddafi would never release him. When Gaddafi was toppled those warlord factions might have hated each other but they equally both hated the USA so they were never prepared to release him, so how the USA have managed to spring him I don’t know.”

ContinentalEWR wrote:

ltbewr wrote:

PA 103 caused major changes to airline security, in particular stricter controls and requirements of checked bags. That included that the person who checked a bag but doesn't board the flight, it has to be removed as well as further examination of transferred checked baggage. It was a was a mortal wound that in part led to the end of PanAm a few years later. Most of all it meant 270 dead people just before Christmas that year along the breaking of the peace of a small community in Scotland,
If this person is convicted at trial, most likely he will be jailed at the US Supermax prison in Colorado, where terrorist go and never gets out alive.

Many airlines had already implemented the process of reconciling passengers on board to bags checked by 1988. Pan Am had not. Both the airline and its security administrator were found liable in the wake of the Pan Am 103 bombing investigation, and yes, the attack accelerated the demise of Pan Am, which just 3 years later, ceased operating.

Lockerbie was what sealed Pan Am. According to Skygods the two years before Lockerbie Pan Am really was lowering it’s losses tremendously and improving its service substantially. The airline was about to make money the next quarter being the first time since the 70s. That all ended after Lockerbie (other then hope for a DL—PA joint Latin America operation in mid 91).

Here’s a good movie on YT about how Lockerbie came to be: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7sK5dqWPQwY

It was all about reaching that profit mark as you can tell from the movie which PA longed for for years since Harold Gray and Halaby.

I don't necessarily support the release of terminally ill prisoners (depending on their crimes), but I understand it and wouldn't question a justice system on that point. A justice system's ultimate goal is to aid in the limitation and reduction of crime, if Scotland is significantly more peaceful than the US, then its system is better than the US. Even if the causes might be elsewhere.

lesfalls wrote:

ContinentalEWR wrote:

ltbewr wrote:

PA 103 caused major changes to airline security, in particular stricter controls and requirements of checked bags. That included that the person who checked a bag but doesn't board the flight, it has to be removed as well as further examination of transferred checked baggage. It was a was a mortal wound that in part led to the end of PanAm a few years later. Most of all it meant 270 dead people just before Christmas that year along the breaking of the peace of a small community in Scotland,
If this person is convicted at trial, most likely he will be jailed at the US Supermax prison in Colorado, where terrorist go and never gets out alive.

Many airlines had already implemented the process of reconciling passengers on board to bags checked by 1988. Pan Am had not. Both the airline and its security administrator were found liable in the wake of the Pan Am 103 bombing investigation, and yes, the attack accelerated the demise of Pan Am, which just 3 years later, ceased operating.

Lockerbie was what sealed Pan Am. According to Skygods the two years before Lockerbie Pan Am really was lowering it’s losses tremendously and improving its service substantially. The airline was about to make money the next quarter being the first time since the 70s. That all ended after Lockerbie (other then hope for a DL—PA joint Latin America operation in mid 91).

Here’s a good movie on YT about how Lockerbie came to be: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7sK5dqWPQwY

It was all about reaching that profit mark as you can tell from the movie which PA longed for for years since Harold Gray and Halaby.

Pan Am was in a long state of decline that began long before the Lockerbie disaster but the company actually had recorded its highest profit ever in the 3rd quarter of 1988. The airline's problems going back to before deregulation are well documented. Post-deregulation, it made some half hearted attempts (and very expensive ones) to develop a more comprehensive domestic network to feed its international network, but that was never fully realized, from the disastrous National Air acquisition to launching Pan Am Express to the Pan Am Shuttle, none helped to round out the network and provide the feed needed to make those 747s flying long haul profitable in the off-season months.

Delta acquired the JFK hub and the TATL operation (except for Miami to Paris and Miami to London route authorities) in 1991 and pulled to plug on further financing just after Thanksgiving of 1991, which would have seen Delta inject another $25 million into Pan Am to help get the Miami-based Latin America operation, a complete folly of a business plan, off the ground. This was after Pan Am received $100 million from Delta that was part of the TATL/JFK, 45 aircraft, and Shuttle asset purchase in 1991. By then, all of Pan Am's crown jewels (the TPAC network, Heathrow, JFK, the Shuttle) had all been sold off. A small Pan Am focused on Miami to the Caribbean and Latin America probably wouldn't have succeeded in competing with the emerging AA hub in Miami, itself born out of the 1990 purchase of Eastern's Latin America operation by AMR and only made larger by the eventual carve up of Pan Am's MIA assets that was split between UA and AA.