A South Korean court on Friday suspended the prison term of a former Korean Air executive whose onboard "nut rage" tantrum delayed a flight last year, immediately ending her incarceration.
The Seoul High Court said Cho Hyun-ah, who is the daughter of the airline's chairman, did not violate the aviation security law when she ordered the chief flight attendant off a Dec. 5 flight, forcing it to return to the gate at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
The upper court sentenced Cho to 10 months in prison for assault and then suspended the sentence for two years. A lower court had earlier sentenced Cho to a year in prison. She has been locked up since her December arrest.
Cho achieved worldwide notoriety after an onboard tantrum triggered when a first class flight attendant served her macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a dish. Cho, head of the airline's cabin service at the time, had a heated, physical confrontation with members of the crew.
