[FACT OR FAKE #63] A 29-Year-Old Actually Changed His Tickets For Both MH370 And MH17
A Dutch cyclist is being reported to have escaped death twice after being scheduled to fly on doomed Malaysia Airlines flights - Flight MH17, which was shot down over eastern Ukraine, and Flight MH370, which disappeared over the Indian Ocean in March this year.
By Sadho Ram — 20 Jul 2014, 05:33 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
This is Maarten de Jonge, a Dutch cyclist. There are several reports stating that he switched his tickets before he boarded both of Malaysia Airlines' doomed flights - MH17 and MH370.
It is being reported that he changed his ticket for each MAS flight at the last minute. Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, and Flight MH370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean in March.
According to a Netherlands public broadcaster RTV Oost, Maarten de Jonge was scheduled to be on both Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17 and the still missing flight MH 370. In both cases de Jonge ended up changing his flight at the last minute.
go.comSo did he really change his tickets for both the doomed MAS flights at the last minute? How much of it is FACT and FAKE?
FACT: The 29-year-old had to change his MH17 ticket to another date because he wanted to save money by getting cheap airfare. He was also supposed to board MH370 on 8 March for a competition in Taiwan but changed to another flight to avoid transit.
Maarten de Jonge, 29, born in the Dutch town of Oldenzaal according to his website, was planning to travel back to Kuala Lumpur on flight MH17 from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on July 17 after visiting his home country to participate in national championships. He decided to swap flights as traveling via Frankfurt on Sunday would save him some money, he told local broadcaster RTV Oost.
Months earlier, in March, he took another Malaysian Air flight out of Kuala Lumpur, at the same time and in the same direction as a Boeing Co. 777 wide-body airliner taking off for Beijing. That plane has been missing without trace ever since, with no debris found despite the longest search mission in civil aviation.
go.comMaarten is a member of Malaysia's Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG).
deccanchronicle.com
"I could have taken that one just as easily," De Jonge said in an interview with RTV Oost. "It's inconceivable. I am very sorry for the passengers and their families, yet I am very pleased I'm unharmed."
In a statement on his website on Friday he said he was "overwhelmed" by the responses and requests he has received since posting a tweet "Had I departed today, then..." He declined to comment further out of respect for the victims and their next of kins, according to the statement.
The 29-year-old, who finished in 35th place in the National Championship Road Race in the Netherlands on 30 June, confirmed the bizarre occurrence on his website
“How happy I am for myself and my family that I was on this flight and did not take it the last moment; my story is ultimately nothing compared to the misery in which so many people are paid,” de Jonge wrote in Dutch.
maartendejonge.comHe wrote in a statement on his website that his narrow escape on both the still-missing MH370 and the shot-down MH17 planes should not be the focus of either tragedy
"What has happened is terrible, so many victims, that's a horrible thing," de Jonge said in a translated statement on his website. "I have my story done and I would like to leave it ... my story is ultimately nothing compared to the misery in which so many people are paid."
washingtontimes.com
The athlete told RTV Oost he still plans on flying to Malaysia later this week, and that despite his close calls with disaster, he isn’t too worried about the flight
“I have been lucky twice,” he reportedly said. "You should try not to worry too much because then you won't get anywhere," he told RTV Oost.
go.com