FB Post of the Day: Passenger aboard crashed plane posted photo before takeoff ‘in case it disappears’
A macabre photograph has gone viral, along with the Facebook message in which it was embedded. The author, identified as Cor Pan, was one of the 279 passengers killed yesterday when Malaysian Airlines MH17 was shot out of the sky near the Ukraine-Russia border.
Just before boarding the ill-fated flight at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, Pan posted a photo on his Facebook page showing the aircraft parked at its gate. Alluding to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which has been missing for months, he whimsically added the advice that “in case it disappears, this is what it [the plane] looks like.”
Anticipating skeptics, the Moscow Times notes:
While it is theoretically possible to manipulate both the time and location shown alongside a photo, the reactions underneath the photo speak for its authenticity.
Among those comments were wishes for a relaxing holiday, which “soon took on a more sinister turn.”
Facebook friends of the man, who is presumably Dutch, posted comments of disbelief, mourning, and condolence, confirming that he was among the fatalities.
By Thursday night, the Facebook post had been shared almost 4000 times.
