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.

What would you do if you were on a plane and it got hijacked? Most would admit to being too scared to do anything, while a few might claim they would sort out the hijackers themselves and save the day.

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.

Back in 2016, as Egyptair flight MS181 was flying from Alexandria to Cairo, it was hijacked by a man wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt.

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.

Pixabay

One of those flyers still held hostage was British national Ben Innes, who decided the best course of action was to go up to the hijacker and ask if he could get a selfie with the guy.

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.

Technically that makes the picture no longer a selfie, but Ben seemed satisfied with the end result and headed back to his seat, with the hijacker also sitting back down.

Ben Innes

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.

As for why Mustafa hijacked the plane, he apparently did so because his ex-wife lived in Cyprus and he wanted to see her.

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.