Former Korean Air exec pleads not guilty in nut rage case

File photo of Cho Hyun-ah, center, former vice president of Korean Air Lines, as she is escorted by court officials as she leaves for Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office in December last year in connection with the nut rage case. AP

SEOUL, South Korea — The former Korean Air executive famous for an inflight tantrum over macadamia nuts pleaded not guilty Monday to violating aviation safety law and three other charges.

Lawyers for Cho Hyun-ah did not dispute the major elements of the prosecutor’s account of events on Dec. 5 when Cho’s behavior resulted in a Korean Air jet returning to the gate. Instead, they are focusing on a technical rebuttal of the aviation law charge.

Cho spent most of the first day of her trial Monday with her head lowered and hair covering her face. She declined to make any comments when invited to by the judge.

Cho, who is the daughter of Korean Air’s chairman, achieved worldwide notoriety by kicking a senior crew member off the Dec. 5 flight after being offered macadamia nuts in a bag, instead of on a dish. At the time, she was head of cabin service at the airline.

Her behavior caused an uproar in South Korea and the airline’s defense of her and its attempt to blame a crew member prompted more criticism. The incident touched a nerve in a country where the economy is dominated by family-run conglomerates known as chaebol that often act above the law.

Cho has been in police custody since Dec. 30 and could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of all four charges against her.

Prosecutors accused her of forcing a flight to change its route, which was the most serious charge with a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. The three other charges Cho faces are the use of violence against flight crew, hindering a government probe and forcing the flight’s purser off the plane.

Cho’s attorney Yu Seung-nam told the court that the Dec. 5 flight had moved only 17 meters from the gate at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport before it returned, which did not amount to a forced change of an aviation route.