Stuck on a Plane Hijacked by a Man Wearing a Fake Bomb? Say 'Cheese'

In the event an aircraft is hijacked, posing for a picture of the hijacker would be the last thing on many passengers' minds; but one man aboard the EgyptAir flight MS181 from Alexandria to Cairo that was forced to land in Cyprus, wanted to say "cheese."

On Tuesday 29 March, EgyptAir flight MS181 was hijacked en route to Cairo from Alexandria by a man threatening to blow up the aircraft.

Almost all of the 55 passengers were released by the hijacker, named Seif Eldin Mustafa by Cypriot officials — but Ben Innes was among three passengers and four crew members who were kept on board.

Ben Innes from #Aberdeen poses for a picture with #EgyptAir #MS181 hijacker. pic.twitter.com/ywdGYuDWwm

— Paul Smith (@Journo_Paul) 29 March 2016​

Doing the rounds in British media is the photograph of 26-year-old Ben Innes from Leeds in the UK, who now lives in Aberdeen, posing with the hijacker. He told tabloid newspaper The Sun:

"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."

Passenger Ben Innes then decided to ask a crew member to take a photograph of him with the hijacker. Gritting his teeth in a tense smile Innes stands with his sunglasses still on the top of his head next to the hijacker who appears to be wearing a suicide bomb around his waist.

15 minutes of fame! Only one photo on UK front pages tomorrow — Brit Ben Innes & #EgyptAirHijack|er. #EgyptAir pic.twitter.com/Eml2tQD9dp

— Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) 29 March 2016​

"I could see he was wearing what looked like a bomb and I was obviously very scared. But he didn't seem particularly anxious," Innes told The Sun.

"About half an hour after we got to Larnaca, I asked to have my picture taken with him.

"We were sitting around and I thought, 'Why not? If he blows us all up it won't matter anyway.' "

All of the passengers and crew were eventually arrested and the hijacker was arrested. The suicide belt captured in the picture — has been found to be a fake.

BREAKING Possible hijacker standing at front of the #Egyptair A320 flight #MS181 https://t.co/tqFPgUKUbI pic.twitter.com/nTP8MNbthF

— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) 29 March 2016​

Cypriot's president said the incident was not terrorism-related — but the hijacker's motives remain unclear, unlike the picture of him with passenger Ben Innes.