South Korean court suspends ‘nut rage’ executive’s prison term

A South Korean appeals court on Friday freed the former Korean Air (KAL) executive jailed for a year in February for disrupting a flight in a rage over macadamia nuts. The High Court in Seoul ruled that the behaviour of Cho Hyun-Ah, the eldest daughter of the airline’s chairman, had not resulted in a change of flight path - the most serious charge against her - and handed down a reduced suspended sentence. Cho, who was a KAL vice president in charge of in-flight service at the time of the December 5 incident, had become enraged after a flight attendant served her some nuts in a bag, rather than on a plate. She lambasted the chief steward over the behaviour of his cabin crew and then insisted the taxiing New York-Seoul KAL flight return to the airport gate so he could be removed from the plane.

The accused had no intention of hampering the safe operation of the plane.

High Court judge Kim Sang-Hwan

In her original trial, the district court determined that an aircraft was “in flight” from the moment it began to move, and that in ordering the return to the gate Cho had violated aviation safety laws by illegally changing the plane’s route. But the High Court overturned that decision, ruling that the return to the gate “did not constitute a change” of flight path. Handing down a reduced sentence of 10 months, suspended for a period of two years, High Court judge Kim Sang-Hwan said the threat Cho’s actions had presented to the safety and security of the aircraft was “modest”. But the court upheld her conviction for hampering the plane’s operation and violence against the cabin crew.

It appears that she will have to live under heavy criticism from society and stigma.

Cho Hyun

Asia-Pacific Nut rage