Jakarta – AFP, Jan 07, 2015
Seoul. South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday charged Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-ah with causing a safety hazard on a flight following a “nut rage” incident that sparked a national uproar.
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| South Korea's Korean Air plane, center, sits on the tarmac at Gimpo airport in Seoul on Dec. 9, 2014. (AFP Photo/Jung Yeon-je) |
Seoul. South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday charged Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-ah with causing a safety hazard on a flight following a “nut rage” incident that sparked a national uproar.
Cho,
daughter of the airline’s boss and herself a KAL executive at the time, ordered
the chief purser off a Dec. 5 New York-Seoul flight and compelled the taxiing
plane to return to the terminal gate so he could disembark.
She had
taken exception to being served macadamia nuts which she had not requested —
and in a bag, not a bowl.
“The plane
was forced to change its planned line of movement and the chief purser, who was
on duty to ensure flight safety, had to leave the plane, causing safety
hazards,” senior prosecutor Kim Chang-hee told journalists.
“Korean Air
staff were mobilized in attempts to eliminate and tamper with evidence” by
fabricating statements in order to get Cho off the hook, he said.
Cho is
charged with forcing the flight to change its planned movements and using
violence against crew members, both breaches of an aviation safety law, as well
as obstructing official duties by leading the company’s attempts to cover up
the incident.
If convicted,
she could face up to 15 years in prison but legal experts said she would likely
draw a suspended jail sentence.
Cho, 40,
was arrested and jailed on Tuesday last week after a local court issued a
warrant, citing “the gravity of the issue as well as the organized efforts to
cover up” the case.
She has
been sharing a cell in a Seoul detention center.
Cho is one
of three children of KAL boss Cho Yang-Ho, who is also the patriarch of
business conglomerate and KAL’s parent company Hanjin Group.
She has
publicly apologized for the incident and resigned from all her posts at Korean
Air and its affiliates.
Prosecutors
also brought charges against a Korean Air executive surnamed Yeo for his
alleged involvement in Korean Air’s attempts to eliminate evidence.
A
transportation ministry official who leaked details of a government probe into
the case to Yeo was also indicted.
Prosecutors
said they would investigate allegations that government officials got free
upgrades to business-class seats from Korean Air.
The
transport ministry has vowed to sanction the airline with a flight ban, most
likely on the New York-Seoul route, that could last for up to a month, or with
fines of up to $2 million.
Separately,
the ministry has announced it would punish eight of its officials after
admitting that their investigation into the affair was biased in favor of Cho
and Korean Air.
In the
public eye, the incident exemplified the authoritarian mindset of the
family-run business conglomerates known as “chaebol”, and their unhealthy
connections with government officials.
“The case
fueled seething public resentment against chaebols and government watchdogs who
are enjoying their patronage instead of overseeing them,”, said Sogang
University sociology professor Chun Sang-Jin.
Agence France-Presse
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