A former rescue coordinator who served for three years at RAF Lossiemouth was among the 295 passengers and crew who died when flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine this week.
Stephen Anderson has been named as one of the British passengers who died when the aircraft bound from Amsterdam to Malaysia was brought down near the Russian border.
It is believed the passenger jet was shot down by a ground to air missile fired from an area under the control of rebel forces who mistook it for a Ukrainian military transport plane.
Mr Anderson, who was 44, lived with his 37-year-old wife Joanna in Penang where he was working as a technician with Maersk Drilling.
He moved to Malaysia four years ago after a career spanning 23 years in the RAF which included command of the search and rescue team at RAF Lossiemouth for three years.
Mr and Mrs Anderson still have relatives in Moray, with the Telegraph newspaper reporting that his niece posted a message on the social media network Twitter that said: “Rest in peace uncle Steve, you didn’t deserve to die – not one on that flight did, I love you so much”.