Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash: Die Hard 2 pulled from Film 4 in wake of news

The thriller was set to air at 9pm but has been replaced by Road to Perdition

Bruce Willis is known for the Die Hard franchise (Getty Images)

Film 4 has pulled Die Hard 2 from tonight’s TV listings as news breaks of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine.

The hit thriller stars Bruce Willis as NYPD officer John McClane, who battles to avert disaster as rogue military officials take Washington’s Dulles Airport hostage.

McClane must fight to stop the terrorists before incoming flights circling the airport run out of fuel and crash.

Due to this evening’s tragic incident involving a commercial Boeing airliner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Die Hard 2 will be replaced with Tom Hanks’ Road to Perdition.

Flight number MH17 was shot down near the Russian border in eastern Ukraine by a missile, according to Ukraine’s Interior Minister. There were 280 passengers and 15 crew onboard.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has ordered an investigation into what he has called an “airplane catastrophe”.

Malaysian Airlines posted a tweet on its official account confirming it had “lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam”.

“The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow,” the company wrote.