Malaysia Airlines MH17: Perth man Nick Norris and grandchildren believed to be among victims
Perth man Nick Norris and his three grandchildren were among seven West Australians on the manifest of a Malaysia Airlines jet that was shot down over Ukraine, a family friend has confirmed.
WA Premier Colin Barnett said he had been informed seven West Australians were among those confirmed dead on board the passenger jet that was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 passengers and crew.
Flight MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it came down in rebel-held territory near Ukraine's border with Russia.
In a statement Mr Barnett said he was "horrified and deeply shocked" to hear about the crash.
David Harries from the South of Perth Yacht Club, where Mr Norris was a member, said DFAT had confirmed Mr Norris and his three school-aged grandchildren were on the manifest of the flight.
It is understood the children's parents were also on holiday overseas but had not been booked on the same flight.
Mr Harries said Mr Norris' wife and family were waiting for more information from DFAT.
"At this stage because they are on the manifest we believe that they may have boarded the plane, however, we are awaiting DFAT's confirmation of whether they were physically on the aircraft or not," he said.
Another yacht club member, also named Nick, told Fairfax Radio he was incredibly saddened to hear of Mr Norris' death.
"He was just a lovely bloke, he was always happy to have a chat to anybody that wanted to have a chat to him," he said.
"He was always trying to learn how to get better at sailing.
"We were lucky enough to sit down and have a beer with him after sailing and he'd just talk about life, he was just a really good bloke, his wife was always there to help around the club and at our events and they'll be missed, well, he'll be missed."
Mr Norris was married with four adult children and lived in Perth.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Norris was the managing director at Collaborative Systemic Change.
His profile said "Nick has over 30 years experience in organisational development, which in recent years has included systemic change".
"He has developed an internet based change management system and conducts training courses for facilitators in Australia and the UK."
He was educated at the University of Western Australia.
