Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103: From the Asbury Park Press archives
Thursday, December 22, 1988 — 36 years ago
The previous evening, a Libyan terrorist attack aboard Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, resulted in the deaths of 243 passengers, 16 crew members and 11 people on the ground. The Boeing 747 had left London’s Heathrow Airport for New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, when a bomb operating on a timer — concealed inside a cassette player and packed within a suitcase — detonated in the forward cargo hold.
Of those who died, 35 were Syracuse University students studying abroad, who were going home for the holidays. Of the 28 New Jersey residents lost, two were from Monmouth and Ocean counties: Timothy Baron Johnson, 21, of Neptune and William D. Giebler Jr., 29, formerly of Jackson.
Many relatives of Pan Am victims learn of crash at JFK
(The following excerpted article for the New York Daily News was published on the front page of the Asbury Park Press on this date after its distribution to wire services.):
NEW YORK - The ominous news was frozen on the arrival board at the Pan Am terminal at Kennedy Airport. Next to Flight 103 were the words, “SEE AGT” for “see agent.”
Christmas tree lights blinked merrily as relatives of the more than 250 people on the doomed plane arrived at the eerily quiet terminal — many still unaware of the deadly crash across the ocean.
A woman in her mid-40s, accompanied by her husband, walked happily into the terminal to meet their 20-year-old daughter, a Syracuse University student returning home from foreign-studies programs in London and West Germany.
They saw the stark message and — not yet understanding — walked to a ticket agent at Gate 21. The agent spoke quietly to the man, whose wife smiled and looked at the Christmas lights adorning the building.
The man, a somber look on his face, returned and put his hands on the woman’s shoulder. She wore a bright print blouse, black slacks and a puzzled look. He said a few words. She looked at him and shrieked, “Oh no. Oh no. Not my baby.”
Trump begins work on Taj Mahal
ATLANTIC CITY – In the cavernous arena of the incomplete Trump Taj Mahal Casino Hotel, Donald J. Trump yesterday predicted New Jersey’s tallest building will open in early 1990.
“This is going to be one hell of a success. It better be,” said Trump, sole owner of the 42-story, “billion-dollar building” since Nov. 18.
Trump acquired the Taj Mahal and the Steel Pier when he split Resorts International Inc. with Merv Griffin. Trump had become chairman of Resorts in the summer of 1987.
Resorts began building the Taj Mahal on Oct. 3, 1983. Construction stalled almost a year ago. A crew of 150 has maintained the structure since.
At yesterday’s ceremony marking the renewal of construction, Trump said there would be 1,200 workers at the 17.27-acre site in February, with 2,000 total expected by spring.
Trump owns two other casinos here: Trump Plaza and Trump Castle.
What will you wear to welcome in 1989?
The only thing worse than having nothing to do on New Year’s Eve is having nothing to wear.
If the invitation reads “black tie,” you’ve been all set for weeks now. But if something a bit more impromptu has come up, don’t feel you have to blow up your Christmas bonus on new duds.
In the age of cocooning and safe sex, ushering in the final year of the ‘80s is likely to be low-key for many, with house parties, cozy dinners a deux or weekend-long gatherings of old friends a la “The Big Chill.”
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park Press NJ archives for Dec. 22