Shocking story behind British man who took selfie with a terrorist hijacker on a flight

A photograph of Ben Innes with an alleged hijacker went viral online

A British man took a selfie with an alleged plane hijacker and has since revealed why he decided to ask for a photograph.

In 2016, Ben Innes boarded an Egyptair flight – number MS181 – flying from HBE Airport, Alexandria to Cairo Airport.

However, the plane ended up being hijacked by a man who appeared to be wearing a suicide belt.

The flight was diverted and landed safely Larnaca Airport, Cyprus, however, upon landing the alleged hijacker – named by Cypriot officials as Seif Eldin Mustafa – took hostages and refused to get off the plane.

All but three passengers and four crew were released and Mustafa then entered into negotiations with officials.

And one of the passengers who remained onboard was Innes who decided to ask Mustafa for a photograph which quickly went viral after it was shared online.

Innes’ motive? Not because he particularly wanted to commemorate the moment or was a fan of the person he asked to take a photograph with, but in part, because he wanted ‘a chance to get a closer look’ at the supposed explosive device.

Although in an interview with The Sun, Innes admitted he wasn’t completely ‘sure why [he] did it’.

There was a five-hour standoff at Larnaca airport (BBC)

The Brit continued: “After about half an hour at Larnaca I asked for a photo with him as we were sitting around waiting. I thought, why not?

“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.”

Innes explained he got one of the cabin crew to translate for him to ask the alleged hijacker if he could take a selfie.

“He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap,” Innes says. “It has to be the best selfie ever.”

The photograph led Innes to predict the device was fake – this suspicion later proving true – and so he then returned to his seat and plotted his ‘next move’.

Thankfully, Mustafa surrendered to authorities after a five-hour stand-off and no one was harmed.

He was sentenced to life in prison by an Egyptian court in 2019, charged with intimidation and threats to seize a plane and abduct its passengers for a terrorist purpose.