MISSING flight MH17 turned out to be a lucky escape for one Scottish family.

Barry and Izzy Sim had been booked to travel on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which has been shot down on the Russia-Ukraine border, killing 298 people including 27 Australians.

But the couple, who were travelling with their baby, rebooked to a later flight with another airline after learning the flight was full, the UK’s Telegraphreported.

They have spoken about their shock at hearing the tragic news.

“You get this sick feeling in the pit of your stomach,” Mr Sim said. “We started getting butterflies. Your heartbeat starts going.

“There must have been someone watching over us and saying ‘you must not get on that flight’.”

Izzy Sim said they learnt of the tragedy on the way to the airport.

“Coming to the airport in the taxi I was just crying ... I feel like I’ve been given a second chance.”

Her husband says he’s OK about getting on their flight with KLM, while Izzy is worried about the danger of another crash.

“In my mind lightning never strikes twice in the same place so I am still philosophical that you get on the flight and you go about your life,” he said. “I know my wife doesn’t feel like that. Probably the last thing she wants to do now is fly, especially to Kuala Lumpur.”

They aren’t the only people to have narrowly avoided disaster.

One Adelaide woman who flew back into the city this morning told ABC Radio she twice came close to being on the fatal flight.

“We flew into KL from Amsterdam on the MH17 flight, the day before, so it’s a bit surreal to think that, you know, one day later and I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you right now,” she said.

“We originally had our itinerary to be on that flight, but then we changed it thinking we’d be too jet-lagged for work on Monday,” she said.

“Then there was another chance we could’ve been on that flight when we got to Schiphol Airport on Wednesday to check in they’d overbooked that flight — so we were on standby and we only found out literally a minute before the boarding closed that we were actually going to be leaving that day.”

The woman said passengers on her flight into Adelaide only became aware of the tragedy when they landed.

“I’ve got some really close girlfriends from Holland who messaged me while I was in the air, so I don’t know how soon after takeoff it happened, but it seemed the Malaysian Airlines staff didn’t know anything,” she said.

“They did not seem to have the slightest clue, we actually mentioned it to one flight attendant and she seemed genuinely shocked.”

It’s believed the plane was shot down, though the origin has not yet been confirmed.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said anyone with concerns can call the hotline on 1300 555 135.