Passenger on Malaysian plane posted pic of plane before boarding 'in case it disappeared'

A haunting photograph of flight MH17 (pictured left) is believed to have been posted on Facebook by a Dutch passenger just moments before he boarded the doomed plane.

The plane, pictured on tarmac, took off from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at lunchtime today and was shot down hours later on the Russia-Ukraine border in an 'act of terrorism', killing all 295 people on board.

Cor Pan, who is listed on Facebook as living in Volendam in North Holland, uploaded the picture of the aircraft with the caption: ‘If it disappears, this is what it looks like.’ Continue...

Cor Pan with a woman believed to be girlfriend Neeltje Tol, who it is thought was also on the plane.

The comment is believed to have been a reference to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 which disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March.

After seeing the photo friends initially went along with the joke and wished him a good trip, but their messages quickly turned frantic when news of the crash emerged.

Posting underneath the picture they asked whether his flight was the one that had gone down and said that they were praying that it wasn’t true. 

His cousin later posted the flight number underneath the picture and wrote: 'Turns out our cousin Cor was on this plane.’ 

Friends and family members began to leave touching tributes to the Dutch traveller, with one posting ‘rest in peace’. 

Their posts also suggested that he was on board the plane with his girlfriend Neeltje Tol.

One said: ‘Rest in peace Cor and Neel this is surreal, with sympathy for family and friends.’

Another posted: ‘Terrible and unfair. Rest in peace Cor and Neeltje.’ 

Mr Pan, who lists himself as 'self-employed' on his Facebook page, is thought to have posted the image through a window at the boarding gate, just a few minutes before getting onto the flight which took off at 12:15pm in Amsterdam. 

The plane has the words Malaysia emblazoned on the side and appears to be being refuelled.

A total of 151 Dutch passengers are believed to have been on board the plane.