Wife of Pan Am Bombing Victim Wins $19 Million

A federal jury has awarded $19 million to the widow of an executive killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Faith Pescatore, 37, cried upon hearing the verdict Monday against defunct Pan Am and Alert Management Systems, a security company.

Her husband of 2 1/2 years, Michael, was one of 259 people killed aboard the Boeing 747. Eleven people on the ground also died.

Michael Pescatore, 33, was a vice president for British Petroleum Chemicals of America, his widow’s attorney, Aaron Broder, said Tuesday.

Pan Am immediately asked the judge to set aside the verdict. The airline’s lawyer, Edward Brady, had no comment Tuesday.

Faith Pescatore, a physician’s assistant who lives in the Cleveland area, charged that Pan Am and its security firm were warned of a possible terrorist attack but took no extra precautions.

A bomb, hidden in a radio-cassette player and packed in a suitcase, was believed to have been put aboard the plane by Libyan terrorists. Arrest warrants have been issued for two suspects, but Libya has refused to turn them over.

Broder said he believes that it is the largest airline-disaster award ever given to one person.

In 1992, a federal jury ruled that the airline was at fault for repeatedly ignoring warnings that its baggage-security system was inadequate. The jury awarded three families a total of nearly $20 million in that lawsuit.