EgyptAir Hostage Went For It; Calls Photo With Plane Hijacker "Best Selfie Ever"

Most everyone watched on yesterday – through gritted teeth and sweaty palms – as a man wearing a supposed suicide belt hijacked an EgyptAir flight carrying 62 people.

After a five-hour siege, 59-year-old hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa was arrested in Cyprus, where the plane had been grounded (with his belt revealed to be a fake, comprised of iPhone cases). Everyone walked off the plane safely. Good result.

But now, in the cold light of day, the world tries to wrap its head around one of the ordeal's most baffling products: a cheerful picture taken on the airliner, seemingly mid-hijacking, featuring a grinning hostage.

Ben Innes, a 26-year-old from Leeds, posed for a happy snap with his captor. He then sent the pic to his flatmates, as one does.

"I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him," Innes elaborated to The Sun, according to The Guardian.

"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.”

Yeah... nah.

“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," he said.

Probably best not to take Ben's advice on board if you ever find yourself in a similar situation. No Instagram post is worth it.

During the hijacking, Mustafa asked to see his ex.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades told press that “the hijacking is not terrorism-related.”

“Always there is a woman,” he added.

Mustafa will appear in court on Wednesday.

Photo: Twitter.