Surreal footage shows moment man asked terrorist plane hijacker for selfie

It's one of those stomach-churning hypothetical scenarios you would dread to find yourself in.

But I doubt many would say 'I'd take a selfie with the person taking us hostage'.

Yet this is exactly what one bloke did when his plane got taken over.

And it was all caught on camera.

With the flight being diverted to Larnaca airport, Cyprus, all but four of the plane's 56 passengers were allowed to disembark.

The four remaining passengers and the flight crew stayed on board the plane with their hijacker, who would be named by officials as Seif Eldin Mustafa.

In the video, the hijacker can be seen sitting with members of the flight crew before another heads over to talk to the man, who looks down at the passenger compartment.

After a brief chat, they beckon Ben over and the hijacker stands up to pose for the photo together, with the flight crew agreeing to hold the camera.

Ben admitted that he'd thought 'Why not' when he got in on the photo opportunity, figuring that his fate was sealed either way if the suicide belt went off.

He also believed that if he could interact with Mustafa face-to-face, the man would not just see him as a faceless victim and may reconsider his actions.

After five hours the hijacker surrendered to the authorities, with the incident deemed not to be an act of terrorism.

It was also later discovered that the belt of explosives was fake.

Mustafa was later extradited back to Egypt where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.