EgyptAir hijacking: Burly Brit talks air hostess into taking the 'best selfie ever'

As global media was frantically covering Tuesday's 'terrorist hijacking' of an EgyptAir flight, a British passenger was inside talking merrily with stewardesses, working out who would take the picture that would capture the surreal and ridiculous nature of the event.

Burly Englishman Ben Innes beamed his pearly whites in "the best selfie ever" as he stood next to the Egyptian man accused of wearing a fake suicide belt and forcing the grounding of the Boeing A320 in Cyprus.

A Dutch passenger, one of several foreign nationals still on board being held hostage, filmed the curious exchange from a few seats away.

The footage has now been broadcast on Holland late-night talk show Pauw.

Mr Innes, a 26-year-old health and safety auditor, told The Guardian he wanted to take a "closer look" at the belt.

"I figured if his bomb was real I'd have nothing to lose anyway, so [I] took a chance to get closer and look at it," he said.

"So I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever."

Yesterday, the Daily Mail reported that he sent the photograph to his friends, along with messages that read; "You know your boy doesn't f--- about" and "Turn on the news lad".

One of his friends told Sky News the photograph was not surprising.

"It is completely like him to think it is funny and get a picture," he said.

His mother told Sky News she was "delighted" he was well, and that "everything is resolved".

Mr Innes was among the last group of hostages left on the airliner. The alleged hijacker was later arrested and all hostages were freed.