AN IRISHMAN who was on board the flight bringing Lisa Smith back to Ireland was forced to give up his seat for her.
Passengers on board the Turkish Airlines flight form Istanbul to Dublin on Sunday were left stunned after realising that the former ISIS bride was on board.
Paul O'Neill, a 32-year-old from Coolock, Co. Dublin, was supposed to sit in seat 29D but was moved to 27D so that Smith could have his seat at the back of the plane, according to the Irish Mirror.
"She [Smith] was on the plane before everyone else and as I was going to board the plane they told me they moved me to seat 27D," said Mr O'Neill.
"I was a bit shocked that the controversial ISIS bride was on it, you’d think someone would have told us.
"No one could go near her, they kind of put a curtain up for when she was getting off the plane and then she was just taken away."
Another passenger said he was separated from his son in order to accommodate for security personnel who were travelling with Smith.
The father said he "got a fright" when he briefly exchanged glances with Smith during the flight, remembering that she had "piercing blue eyes".
"She looked straight at me. I got a fright, all you could see was her blue eyes through the burqa. We locked eyes and it was like she recognised me or something, she looked surprised."
He went on to say that the presence of security coupled with the fact that no one was allowed to walk passed her seat to go to the toilet made many on board feel very agitated.
"I wasn't comfortable on the flight, I was very annoyed and pretty agitated," he said.
"We weren't told [she was on board.] We couldn't understand having booked online to sit beside one another as father and son that I was moved.
"She didn’t get up [from her seat] to go to the toilet or anything."
"I went down to try and go to the toilet for the second time, the guys were kind of blocking me to even look at her.
"They kept telling everyone to sit down that the seatbelt sign was on and I said to one of the Irish guys, 'Look this is the second attempt, we need to go to the bathroom it's an emergency.' They kept the seatbelt sign on and just said it was kept on because of the weather.
"I've never been on a flight where they stopped people from going to the toilet. It was an awful inconvenience."
Smith reportedly had her two-year-old daughter Rakaya sitting on her lap during the flight, and spoke in Arabic while trying to comfort her throughout the four-hour flight.
Passengers watched as Smith, along with her daughter and the security detail disembarked from the rear of the plane and were swiftly whisked away by gardai who were waiting in a blacked-out SUV on the runway.
"They put her in the toilet and then they opened [the door up] to block everyone’s vision. She wrapped the pink blanket around the baby, I watched her leave the aircraft at the back and down the steps. She had no bag, no belongings with her," one passenger said.
Gardai confirmed the 38-year-old from Dundalk, Co Louth, was arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences and brought to Kevin Street Garda station after landing at Dublin Airport at 10.11am.
She denies any involvement in terrorist activities.
