An Adelaide couple returning from their honeymoon have revealed how close they came to boarding the ill-fated MH-17 flight, twice.
Simone La Posta and her husband Juan were due to board MH-17, which was shot down by a missile mid-flight, but their itinerary changed.
“We flew into Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam on the MH-17 flight, the day before, so it’s a bit surreal to think that, you know, one day later and I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you right now,” Simone La Posta told ABC Radio.
“We originally had our itinerary to be on that flight, but then we changed it thinking we’d be too jet-lagged for work on Monday.
“Then there was another chance we could’ve been on that flight when we got to Schiphol Airport on Wednesday to check in they’d overbooked that flight — so we were on standby and we only found out literally a minute before the boarding closed that we were actually going to be leaving that day.”
Related: Twenty-seven Australians on board MH17 when shot down
Had they not been turned away, they would have perished with the 295 other passengers, including 27 Australians, when MH17 came crashing down near the Russian border.
Ms La Posta and her husband, along with other passengers on the flight, only became aware of the tragedy once they landed in Adelaide and switched on their mobile phones.
“I’ve got some really close girlfriends from Holland who messaged me while I was in the air, so I don’t know how soon after take-off it happened, but it seemed the Malaysian Airlines staff didn’t know anything,” she said.
“They did not seem to have the slightest clue, we actually mentioned it to one flight attendant and she seemed genuinely shocked.”
Meanwhile, a Scottish couple who were also meant to be aboard flight MH17 have described the moment they discovered the devastating news.
Barry and Izzy Sim were just seconds from boarding the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when they were told there was no room for them on the plane.
To compensate, the couple and their newborn baby were offered seats on a later flight.
Related: Celebrities react to Malaysian Airlines disaster
“There must have been someone watching over us and saying, ‘You must not get on that flight,” Mr Sim said.
“You get this sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. We started getting butterflies. Your heartbeat starts going.”
Worried their standby flight would to be targeted by the same Russian-based rebels who are thought to be responsible for the airspace attack, Mr and Mrs Sim have tried to remain as positive as they can.
“In my mind lightning never strikes twice in the same place so I am still philosophical that you get on the flight and you go about your life,” said Mr Sim.
“I know my wife doesn’t feel like that. Probably the last thing she wants to do now is fly, especially to Kuala Lumpur.”
A visibly shaken Ms Sim said she feels as though she and her family have been given a second chance.
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