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Dutch cyclist was due to fly on MH17 and MH370 but changed plans both times
UK Telegraph ^ | July 20,2014 | By Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney

Posted on 07/20/2014 9:11:39 AM PDT by Hojczyk

A Dutch man skirted death on both recent doomed Malaysia Airlines flights after booking tickets on MH17 and MH370 but changing plans at the last minute.

Maarten De Jonge, 29, a cyclist who rides with Malaysia’s Terengganu Cycling Team, switched from MH370 in March to avoid a lengthy stopover and switched from MH17 last week to take a later flight and save money.

“It’s inconceivable,” he told Dutch public broadcaster RTV Oost. “I am very sorry for the passengers and their families, yet I am very pleased I’m unharmed.”

In a statement on his website, he said he was “overwhelmed” by the international responses to his fortune in narrowly avoiding death but said the focus should be on the victims and their families.

“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 dead,” he said.

“Attention should be paid to the victims and survivors. Wishing everyone affected by this disaster a lot of strength.”

De Jonge said his ordeal would not deter him from flying on Malaysia Airlines and he plans to go ahead with a flight on the airline to Malaysia via Frankfurt.

“I have been lucky twice,” he said.

“You should try not to worry too much because then you won’t get anywhere… I could have taken that one [MH17] just as easily.”

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: mh17

1 posted on 07/20/2014 9:11:39 AM PDT by Hojczyk
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To: Hojczyk

No US airliner is permitted to fly over Ukrainian airspace since all the tension started. But the Malaysians who lost a plane already this year figured. “What the hell” we got plenty.

I wouldn’t fly that airline.


2 posted on 07/20/2014 9:16:04 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: Hojczyk

His Guardian Angel is working overtime!


3 posted on 07/20/2014 9:19:35 AM PDT by The Sons of Liberty (I want 0bama to make history - First to be IMPEACHED and REMOVED!)
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To: Hojczyk

Odd. It reminds me of some of my own dalliances with danger. I flew through Dallas FW on the day flight 73 crashed. I, unfortunately was in Palo Alto on the day of the big quake there. I also was transiting through LAX that day where one airliner hit another one while landing.


4 posted on 07/20/2014 9:21:21 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: Hojczyk

A good friend and co-worker would not exist if his dad had not missed a flight back in 1956. My friend Pete’s dad had a ticket for one of the two planes that collided over the Grand Canyon 1956. He was rushing to make the flight but missed it by 5 minutes.


5 posted on 07/20/2014 9:22:34 AM PDT by JaguarXKE (1973: Reporters investigate All the President's Men. 2013: Reporters ARE all the President's men d)
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To: Hojczyk

I have an aunt who was on the US figure skating team when she was pretty young. She became ill and didn’t fly with the team to Europe for a world championship event in 1961. The plane crashed in Belgium, killing the entire team.


6 posted on 07/20/2014 9:26:56 AM PDT by Cementjungle
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To: Hojczyk

I think God is trying to tell him something. Let’s hope he takes the hint.


7 posted on 07/20/2014 9:31:32 AM PDT by ottbmare (the OTTB mare, now a proud Marine Mom)
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To: Hojczyk

If I am ever waiting for a flight and see this guy cancel, I will run up and cancel, too.


8 posted on 07/20/2014 9:41:53 AM PDT by eartrumpet
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To: eartrumpet

Perhaps he’d like to share his lotto numbers with the rest of us??


9 posted on 07/20/2014 9:51:24 AM PDT by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't.)
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To: The Sons of Liberty

Maybe he should start booking on a different airline. My wife booked her own travel from Japan to the Philipines. She came back complaining about the flight and I asked what airline she was on. Air Pakistan....... I then had to explain to her she had flown on one of the most dangerous airlines in the world and gave her a list of acceptable airlines to book in the future. All to save a couple hundred dollars.


10 posted on 07/20/2014 9:51:54 AM PDT by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
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To: Hojczyk

This man should never gamble again. He has use up all his good luck.


11 posted on 07/20/2014 9:53:47 AM PDT by Nuc 1.1 (Nuc 1 Liberals aren't Patriots. Remember 1789!)
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To: ottbmare

I pray he doesn’t get that “Final Destination” treatment.


12 posted on 07/20/2014 10:17:54 AM PDT by Patriot Babe
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To: Hojczyk

Every time I pick a flight and then change it, I wonder if I did the wrong thing.

FINAL DESTINATION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMOYUQWGWFM


13 posted on 07/20/2014 10:42:16 AM PDT by doug from upland (Obama and the leftists - destroying our country one day at a time)
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To: Hojczyk

Drudge had a story about an Australian woman who lost her brother on MH370 and her step-daughter on MH17. Too sad.


14 posted on 07/20/2014 10:50:14 AM PDT by A'elian' nation ("Political Correctness does not legislate tolerance; it only organizes hatred." Jacques Barzun)
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To: Hojczyk

Don’t you think you should switch airlines now?

(I know real not fair to Malaysia Air..they just have had a very high profile run of bad luck....maybe...)


15 posted on 07/20/2014 11:07:53 AM PDT by tophat9000 (An Eye for an Eye, a Word for a Word...nothing more)
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To: Hojczyk

He might want to choose a different airline —

or learn the meaning of the phrase: “the 3rd time”s the charm” or is it “3 strikes and you’re out”???


16 posted on 07/20/2014 11:12:29 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: Hojczyk

Evidently somebody wants him dead. All the others are collateral damage.


17 posted on 07/20/2014 11:26:54 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("The man who damns money obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it earned it." --Ayn Rand)
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To: USNBandit

With Air Pakistan I envision chickens, goats and cooking fires in the aisles; not to mention the “people” you would have to sit next to in the seats and what they have in their carry on.


18 posted on 07/20/2014 11:56:00 AM PDT by The Sons of Liberty (I want 0bama to make history - First to be IMPEACHED and REMOVED!)
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To: The Sons of Liberty

Maybe he’s in on it.


19 posted on 07/20/2014 12:08:57 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
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To: The Sons of Liberty

Pretty much. Throw in a couple pilots, who can’t speak or read English, frantically reading an English language flight manual.


20 posted on 07/20/2014 12:59:22 PM PDT by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
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