A grinning passenger who posed for a photo with the EgyptAir hijacker while being held hostage has described it as the “best selfie ever”.

Ben Innes, a 26-year-old British health and safety auditor from Aberdeen, was one of four foreigners held hostage when an EgyptAir passenger plane was forced to land at an airport in Larnaca in Cyprus after being hijacked en route from Alexandria to Cairo.

Speaking to The Sun, Mr Innes said he thought he might as well ask for a photo to see if the bomb belt was real, because if it was he was going to die anyway.

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“I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him,” he said.

“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”

The hijacker, named as Egyptian national Seif Eldin Mohamed Mustafa, threatened to detonate an explosives belt which was later determined to be fake, forcing the captain to divert the flight.

The photo of Mr Innes shows him standing, grinning, on the plane next to the hijacker, who is wearing what he claimed to be the explosive belt.

The hijacker has been identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa. Photo: Supplied

Mr Innes’ relative Sarah Innes tweeted the photo with the caption: “Only Ben could get a selfie! #proud.”

Ms Innes’ Twitter profile appears to have been since deleted.

Mr Innes’ mother, Pauline Innes, did not want to comment on the photo but said she was relieved her son was safe.

According to Sky News, she said she was “absolutely delighted he is well”.

But she did point out that the photo was not a selfie, as it has been widely described.

“You can clearly see that it is not Ben who is taking the picture. He’s in it but he’s not taking it,” she said.

The hijacker has since been detained, after reportedly emerging from the aircraft with his hands in the air to two awaiting counter-terrorism police officers.

It followed a six-hour standoff on the Larnaca tarmac, while authorities negotiated with the hijacker to release hostages, who fled the plane in groups before he surrendered.

Cyprus’s President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters the hijacking was “not terrorism-related”, while the Foreign Ministry said the man was psychologically unstable and that his motives remained unclear.