SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday charged the former Korean Air Lines executive who achieved worldwide notoriety by kicking a crew member off a flight with violating aviation security law and hindering a government investigation.
Cho Hyun-ah, the daughter of the airline’s chairman, ordered a senior crew member off a Dec. 5 flight after being offered macadamia nuts in a bag, instead of on a dish. The plane returned to the gate at John F. Kennedy airport to disembark the flight attendant.
Cho’s actions amounted to “threatening the safety of the flight and causing confusion in law and order,” prosecutor Kim Chang-hee said during a briefing that was broadcast live.
She could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of all four charges she faces, according to attorney Park Jin Nyoung, spokesman for the Korean Bar Association.
