An appeals court Friday freed Cho Hyun-ah, former vice president of Korean Air, clearing her of charges that she changed the plane’s route in the so-called “nut rage” case.
The Seoul High Court sentenced Cho to 10-month imprisonment, but suspended the term for two years.
The ruling came five months after Cho, also known as Heather Cho, the eldest daughter of the airline’s chairman, was imprisoned for violation of aviation safety last December.
The court handed down a reduced sentence, ruling that Cho did not cause a change in the flight path when she forced the taxiing flight back to the airport gate to deplane a chief steward in a rage over macadamia nuts. The lower court sentenced her to a one-year jail term in February. The 40-year-old could have faced up to 10 years in prison if she was found to have altered the flight path.
Cho Hyun-ah
“Despite her problematic view and attitude, the accused did not seem to have the intention to threaten the flight’s safe operation,” said the chief judge Kim Sang-Hwan in the ruling.
“Given the original ruling was made to protect passengers’ safety, Cho’s crime had only limited impact on the plane’s security and safe operation,” adding that the aviation law is meant to avert dangerous acts such as hijacking.
But the court upheld her conviction by a lower court for assaulting the chief cabin crew Park Chang-jin and disrupting the plane’s operation with more than 200 passengers onboard. Prosecutors sought a three-year jail term for Cho, saying that she does not seem to feel sorry.
She admitted to all charges except changing the flight’s course.
Cho, who was in charge of in-flight service of the nation’s biggest airlines, ordered the chief steward off the flight from New York to Incheon at John F. Kennedy Airport after she was not satisfied with the way Kim Do-hee, a first-class flight attendant, served macadamia nuts ― in an unopened bag, not on a plate.
Enraged by what she viewed as “poor cabin service,” Cho verbally abused the chief steward, made him kneel and jabbed his hand with a folder.
The incident immediately triggered controversy over the long-held privileges of a handful of family-owned conglomerates that dominate the national economy, making it one of the most high-profile cases in Korea.
On Friday morning, Cho made her appearance, wearing glasses with her hair tied up, at the Seoul High Court, filled with some 150 reporters and spectators. After the ruling, she bowed to judges, changed from her green prison uniform into black clothes and quickly left in a car without answering a flood of questions by reporters.
The focal point in the verdict was whether the plane that moved about 200 meters at airport apron to return to the terminal gate could be seen as “flight route deviation.” Overturning the initial ruling, the upper court said that the aircraft’s movement on the ground is not part of the flight’s planned route, acquitting her of the charge.
The judge also said that Cho seems to have deeply repented her past behavior and realized the damage she caused to victims since she began serving her term with other prisoners.
“As she seems to be willing to apologize to victims, it is meaningful to give her another chance to make up for her behavior,” the judge said. “We also considered that she would have to live with social criticism.”
The court also took into account that she has 2-year-old twins, never committed a crime before and stepped down from her post as vice president of Korean Air.
But the victims appeared unwilling to accept her apology.
The flight attendant Kim, who served the nuts in question, filed a petition to the court last weekend, calling for “stern punishment” for Cho. She claimed that the “nut rage” case led to “serious damage to her psyche and reputation.” She also filed a civil lawsuit in a U.S. court in March.
The chief steward Park is also reportedly preparing to take legal action in the U.S. to seek financial compensation worth 50 billion won ($46 million).
By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)