A South Korean court on Friday acquitted former Korean Air executive Cho Hyun-ah of endangering plane safety by changing the route of a flight in the "nut rage" case.
The three-judge panel of the Seoul High Court has released her from prison, ruling that she did not violate aviation security rules, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Korean Air heiress - eldest daughter of the airline's chairman Cho Yang-ho - was jailed for a year in February when a lower court found her guilty of violation of flight safety rules.
"It appears that she will have to live under heavy criticism from society and stigma," Judge Kim Sang-hwan said in ruling, the Deutsche Welle reported.
"She has shown remorse for the wrongdoing she committed. She must have learned a lesson from it. We judge she should have a chance to start her life anew," said Kim Sang-hwan, according to the Wall Street Journal.
However, the court found her guilty of assault and sentenced her to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Cho bowed to the judge before walking out of the courtroom after the ruling. She did not make any comments to reporters waiting outside the courtroom, but her lawyer offered an apology on behalf of Cho over the incident, according to the Yohhap news agency.
The 40-year-old Cho Hyun-ah, also known as Heather Cho, had been jailed since January for forcing a Korean Air flight departing from New York back to the gate because her macadamia nuts were served in an unopened bag instead of on a plate. She was Korean Air's vice president and head of in-flight service at the time of incident, according to Reuters.
The flight attendant who served the now infamous macadamia nuts has since filed a civil lawsuit, alleging Cho assaulted and threatened and then pressured her to cover up the incident, according to AFP.
