London/ Cyprus - Grinning widely, a British passenger brazenly poses for a selfie with a hijacker wearing a fake suicide belt who forced their plane to land in Cyprus.
Ben Innes, 26, smiled alongside Seif Eldin Mustafa – who hijacked the domestic EgyptAir flight on Tuesday so he could deliver a letter to his Cypriot ex-wife.
The 59-year-old had threatened to blow up the plane with his “suicide belt” – which was full of mobile phone covers to give the impression of explosives – while holding Mr Innes and six others hostage.
Mr Innes, a health and safety auditor originally from Leeds, had been among 50 passengers including four Britons on the Boeing 737 travelling from Alexandria to Cairo when it was forced to divert to Larnaca airport on Tuesday morning.
During a tense seven-hour standoff, the hijacker – whose ex-wife was brought in to help negotiate – astonishingly agreed to pose for a picture with Mr Innes, who had been travelling for work.
The at times farcical incident eventually came to an end when the Egyptian was forced to surrender with his hands in the air, after almost all of his hostages managed to sneak off the plane.
Live footage captured the moment a crew member believed to be the pilot jumped from the cockpit window, while others calmly walked down stairs on to the tarmac.
No one was injured in the incident, which was initially feared to have been a terrorist attack.
“He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot,” said an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official.
“Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is.”
Mr Innes, who works for a Scotland-based company in the oil and gas industry, was one of the last British hostages on the plane.
The York University graduate, who lives in Aberdeen, sent his housemate the picture of him grinning with the suspect just after the standoff came to an end.
He wrote: “You know your boy doesn’t f*** about” and urged his friend to “turn on the news lad!!!”
Chris Tundogan said he had refused to believe his housemate – who was reportedly on his way home on Tuesday night – until he saw the incident on news websites.
“At first I thought it was pretty insane and that he must be taking the mick, but it can’t have been that serious on the plane if Ben was posing for pics,” he said.
“I have no idea why he took the selfie but I imagine he probably volunteered to take it ... I find it pretty mental but that’s just Ben I guess!”
Mr Innes’s mother Pauline, who lives in Leeds, said last night: “We don’t really want to comment on what has happened until he’s home and we know he’s safe and well.”
Earlier, Mustafa had agreed to release most of the passengers after forcing the pilot to land at 8.30am.
The crew and three foreign nationals were held on board.
The father of four had demanded political asylum in Cyprus and to see his estranged wife Marina Parashkou, 51, who lives on the island.
He was then seen on camera handing over a four-page hand-written letter to a female official.
Cypriot authorities said Mustafa, who was arrested yesterday afternoon, was “in an unstable psychological state”.
He is expected to appear in court this morning.
Daily Mail