Smiling proudly into the camera, 26-year-old Ben Innes looks as if he’s just met a childhood hero.
But the man he’s standing next to is in fact Cyprus hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa, who held up EgyptAir flight MS181 with 62 passengers on board.
Ben couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he posed up to the hijacker.
In the horrifying image, Ben beams proudly as the hijacker stands solemn-faced with a fake explosives belt strapped around his waist.
“I’m not sure why I did it, 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,” British citizen Ben, who lives in Aberdeen, Scotland, later explained to The Sun.
Chaos: A passenger climbs out of the cockpit window on the grounded EgyptAir plane, which was forced to make an emergency landing in Larnaca, Cyprus.
According to the MailOnline Ben was so keen to gloat about his selfie, he allegedly texted a pal to boast about his apparent conquest.
“You know your boy doesn’t f–ck about. Turn on the news lad!!!” Ben explains in What’s App messaged obtained by the website.
The terrifying six-hour show-down ended after the flight, which was originally headed to Cairo from Alexandria, was forced to make an emergency landing in Cyprus and the hijacker was arrested.
It’s believed Mustafa carried out the hijacking in order to try and see his Cypriot ex-wife.
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