A CHIPPING Campden man whose daughter died in the 1988 Lockerbie terrorist attack has reached out to relatives of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine.

An investigation has now been launched into the MH17 air disaster in which all 298 people on board were killed after the plane was shot down near the Russian border, last Thursday.

Doctor Jim Swire whose beloved 23-year-old daughter, Flora, was among 270 people murdered when terrorists blew up an airliner above the Scottish town of Lockerbie after the it had taken off from London’s Heathrow Airport, said he sympathised with relatives of this latest air tragedy.

Writing a letter in the Telegraph, he reassures relatives their loved ones would not have suffered.

"Following the Lockerbie disaster of 1988, in which my daughter Flora was among those murdered, we learnt the answer was that loss of consciousness would be virtually instantaneous, from the moment the fuselage depressurised," he said.

Dr Swire, who has been at the forefront of a campaign to find the truth about what happened to his daughter for more than two decades, said there will probably be a lot of questions unanswered.

"There is no answer to the question: Why did it have to be the aircraft with my loved on aboard that was destroyed?" he said. "Relatives of MH17 should be cautious in assessing where guilt lies, for governments can massage apparent facts in ways which families which may be unable to unravel.

"The long-term consequences for relatives will cascade down the decades. It will be wise to seek professional help for post-traumatic stress disorder, and relationship and financial repercussions...

"There is a small British charity called Disaster Action which although not equipped to deal with the acute phase of an international disaster of this magnitude, does seek to support those affected and draws on the experience of many such victims' relatives."