Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

EgyptAir: Briton Ben Innes describes picture of him with hijacker as 'best selfie ever'

The 26-year-old from Leeds appeared to make light of the situation texting friends that he 'didn't f*** around'

Caroline Mortimer
Wednesday 30 March 2016 00:48 BST
Comments
Passengers evacuate a hijacked EgyptAir plane at Larnaca airport on Tuesday
Passengers evacuate a hijacked EgyptAir plane at Larnaca airport on Tuesday (Reuters)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A British man who took a photo with a hijacker on board an EgyptAir flight has described it as "the best selfie ever".

Ben Innes posted an image of himself on social media with Seif Eldin Mustafa - who was strapped in a “suicide belt” later found to be fake - with the message “You know your boy doesn't f*** about. Turn on the news lad!!!”

He told the Sun: "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 got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever."

Mustafa hijacked the plane - which was an internal flight originally scheduled to fly between Cairo and Alexandria on Tuesday morning - and forced it into a six-hour standoff at Cyprus’ Larnaca airport.

Plane hijacker arrested

While there he made a series of demands including, the release of political prisoners, to see his ex-wife, to see an EU official and to be taken to another airport.

Eventually he let most of the 62 people onboard leave with the exception of several crew members and four foreigners, including Mr Innes, before surrendering.

The health and safety auditor, who is originally from Leeds but lives in Aberdeen, appears to have approached Mustafa for a selfie during the incident.

A friend of Innes from university told the Telegraph that he was “very into his banter”.

His flatmate Chris Tundogan, who received the message, told MailOnline: “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,

“I find it pretty mental but that's just Ben I guess!”

Mustafa surrendered and left the plane at around 2:20pm local time with his hands up and threw several items on the ground.

The hijacking has raised concerns over security at Egyptian airports just five months after a Russian aeroplane was downed after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh killing all 224 people on board, and one aviation expert claimed the incident was a return to "the security stone age".

David Learmount said it appeared the captain of the flight "didn't have faith in the security systems" and felt he had to follow the hijacker's demands, resulting in the "first major successful hijack since 9/11".

He said the captain should have been confident that it was "impossible" for someone to have got through security with a suicide belt.

But footage has emerged of the alleged hijacker walking through a metal detector and being patted down by security before boarding the flight.

Additional reporting by AP

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in