Thesis: Pan Am flight 103 was one of the first commercial aircraft to be attacked by terrorists using an improvised explosive device (IED) containing Semtex, a plastic explosive, and a timing device hidden in checked luggage. FAA regulations of screening checked bags with X-ray technology were ignored, allowing the IED device on board with checked luggage in the cargo hold. The suspects, who were Libyan intelligence agents and employed by Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta, slipped the suitcase with the IED aboard an Air Malta flight headed from Malta to Frankfurt, Germany. The unaccompanied bag was thought to have been hidden on a Pan Am flight to London and then onto Pan Am flight 103. Theories concerning motive lead investigators to the idea
