A former Korean Air executive was sentenced to a year in prison after she allegedly threw a fit last December over macadamia nuts served the wrong way during a flight in what has been dubbed the "nut rage" incident, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Cho Hyun-ah, the daughter of Korean Air Line's chairman, was sentenced Thursday after a South Korean court found her guilty of violating aviation laws when she ordered a pilot to return to the gate before takeoff from a New York airport because her nuts were served in a bag and not on a plate.
According to Hyun-ah, the crew member who served the nuts was not following procedure. She reportedly ordered the cabin crew chief off the plane when it returned to the gate, causing the flight to arrive late at its destination in South Korea.
But officials said she jeopardized the flight's safety during the Dec. 5 incident by making the plane turn back after it already left the gate.
"The sudden return of the plane could have caused an accident if there had been other planes nearby," judge Oh Seung-woo said upon sentencing the 40-year-old heiress, The WSJ reported.
Seung-woo also noted that Hyun-ah seemed to regret her actions, including an alleged assault on the crew member who served the nuts.
"I know my faults and I'm very sorry," Hyun-ah wrote in a letter to the judge a few days before her sentencing.
The former executive is one of the country's richest women and the eldest daughter of Korea Air Lines Chairman Cho Yang-ho. In South Korea she is considered one of the chaebol- a term used for the country's conglomerates that are run by powerful families, according to The WSJ.
Chaebol executives rarely face harsh punishment for misbehavior. But the latest incident sparked outrage among South Koreans over what they said was Hyun-ah's elitist behavior.
Hyun-ah's lawyers are considering if they will appeal the decision.
