A British man who posed for a photo with the EgyptAir hijacker has hailed it as 'the best selfie ever'.
Health and safety auditor Ben Innes, 26, texted his panicked mother minutes after daringly taking a picture with Seif Eldin Mustafa, the Egyptian who hijacked the plane. Oblivious to what her son had just done, Mr. Innes' worried mother Pauline then told him 'not to do anything to draw attention to himself' as the drama played out on televisions across the world.
Mr. Innes allegedly approached the hijacker who then 'shrugged OK' when one of the cabin crew translated his request, before the health and safety auditor took what he labelled 'the best selfie ever'. He then sent the selfie of him with Mustafa, who was wearing a 'fake' suicide belt to his friends.
The diverted flight had landed at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, with 62 passengers on board, and Mr. Innes was one of four 'foreigners' and crew held hostage by Mustafa during a six-hour standoff.
Mr. Innes said: 'I'm not sure why I did it, I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it.'
'I have no idea why he took the selfie but I imagine he probably volunteered to take it as he's not afraid to shy away from anything,' Mr. Innes' flat mate Chris Tundogan told MailOnline.
'I find it pretty mental but that's just Ben I guess!'
After a six-hour standoff, the crew along with Mr. Innes and two other male foreign nationals were released moments before the hijacker gave himself up. His arrest followed a comment by an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official, who said: 'He's not a terrorist, he's an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren't stupid. This guy is.'
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