A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur is believed to have crashed in Ukraine amid reports it may have been shot down.
Russian agency Interfax claims the aircraft was shot down by a BUK medium range ground-to-air missile, although this has not been verified.
Footage on Sky News shows huge plumes of smoke close to where the aircraft is reported to have come down close to the Russian border, a region which has seen heavy fighting recently.
The airline tweeted: “Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.”
Sky News reported the Ukranian interior ministry as saying all 295 people on board the aircraft were killed.
A number of Ukrainian military aircraft have been shot down by missiles in recent weeks, with Ukraine accusing Russia’s military of supplying advanced missiles to the rebels.
Ukrainian officials accused the Russian air force of shooting down one of its ground attack jets on Wednesday.