Dutch cyclist narrowly escapes death twice on MAS jetliners MH370, MH17

A Dutch cyclist narrowly escaped death twice when he changed his flight schedule at the 11th hour after being scheduled to fly on ill-fated Malaysia Airline flights, MH370 and MH17.

Maarten de Jonge, born in the Dutch town of Oldenzaal, who rides for the Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) said he was supposed to board the MAS flight MH370 to Beijing last March for a tournament but swapped his flight merely to avoid transit.

In what seemed to be a 'miracle', the 29-year-old who planned 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, changed his mind again.

So, what happened?

De Jonge decided to swap flights as traveling via Frankfurt on Sunday would save him some money.

In a statement to RTV Oost, De Jonge said, "It's inconceivable. I am very sorry for the passengers and their families, yet I am very pleased I'm unharmed."

He also asked for the victims' families and next of kin to be given continuous attention.

De Jonge said he is still planning to fly back to Malaysia today (July 20) and he is not worried about boarding the MAS flights.

"You should try not to worry too much because then you won't get anywhere," he added.

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**This story, first published on July 20, 2014, has been published again with corrections and updates. The news pertains to first published date.