Head of Korean Airlines Cho Hyun. Prosecutors requested for the daughter of the head of the company. Error in serving

A South Korean court has rendered a verdict in the “nut scandal” case. The daughter of Korean Air CEO Cho Hyun Ah was sentenced to a year in prison for an incident that occurred on board a plane in early December 2014, Reuters reports.

December 5 at international airport John F. Kennedy in New York, one of the flight attendants, before flying to Incheon, served Cho nuts in a bag, and not on a plate, as instructed. At that time, the accused held the position of vice president of the airline and flew first class. Outraged by such service, Cho demanded that the flight attendant be removed from the flight. The aircraft commander, who was heading to the runway, had to return to the airport building. In addition, during the scandal, Cho shouted and insulted the flight attendants, forcing them to beg for forgiveness on their knees, notes The Telegraph. “This is an example of a violation of human dignity,” said the judge who delivered the verdict.

This behavior of the former vice president of Korean Air caused public outrage. As the scandal gained momentum, Cho resigned and was placed in custody on December 30. Cho was accused of violating the rules aviation security and obstruction of justice by exploiting his position. According to media reports, her company tried to force crew members to lie about the incident, allegedly the flight attendant left the board of her own free will.

[Slon.ru, 02/12/2015, “The culprit of the “nut scandal” in a South Korean airline was sentenced to a year in prison”: According to Yonhap, the prosecution noted that the culprit of the scandal tried to influence the experts of the South Korean Ministry of Transport who carried out the inspection incident. - Insert K.ru]

The prosecutor's office demanded that she be sentenced to three years in prison, but the court found her not guilty on the second count. Another airline executive was convicted of obstruction of justice and received an eight-month prison sentence.

[Kommersant.Ru, 02/03/2015, “Three years in prison for the “nut scandal” at Korean Air”: During yesterday’s court hearing, Korean Air senior flight attendant Park Chang-jin said that Ms. Chae Hyun-ah treated him and his colleague to a flight attendant "like slaves" as she forced them to kneel before her in the first class cabin. Cho Hyun Ah said she regrets her action, which she said was due to her dedication to her work. […]
Cho Hyun Ah's case is perceived in South Korea as a symbol of nepotism reigning in business. The large family-owned conglomerates, called chobols, that dominate business in South Korea have traditionally been seen as a source of wealth for elites with little regard for the rule of law. Private Korean Air is part of the Hanjin Chobol, owned by the Cho family, but also has special status as the country's national airline. Therefore, a blow to the company’s image is perceived in Korea as a blow to the image of the state. - Insert K.ru]

Cho's lawyers insisted that her behavior did not affect the plane's change of course. The judge categorically disagreed with them. “It makes sense to understand the course as not only the route in the air, but also the ground movement during the flight,” he said. Cho herself claimed that she did not know that the plane had started moving. But the judge rejected this claim too, noting that the staff informed her about this, to which she demanded to stop the plane. According to him, the actions of the accused led to a delay of 24 minutes, interfered with other airport operations and created a risk of collision with other flights.

“Although she had the right to remove a crew member from his duties as an employee of the company, such right should have been exercised in accordance with due process before the flight,” the judge said, noting that the return of the aircraft was beyond her scope. powers. The court said the pilot's decision to return to the airport was made on Cho's orders and was not his own decision. “This incident may not have happened if she did not consider the employees her slaves and controlled her temper,” the presiding officer said. “This is a serious incident that has put the safety of passengers at risk.”

The judge explained that he took into account the fact that the accused had 20-month-old twins, the absence of other criminal records and the fact that the accident did not happen after all, but added that it caused serious harm to the victims.

“As far as I understand, she repents,” said the defendant’s lawyer, noting that he has not yet discussed with his client the possibility of appealing the verdict. She also stated her repentance in a letter sent to the court. During sentencing, the judge read her letter of apology. At that moment, Cho, dressed in a green prison uniform, lowered her head, hiding her face under her long dark hair, and began to cry. According to the Korea Times, Cho sent six letters to the court apologizing and asking for leniency. In one of them, the accused told how she was adapting to prison life, where she was given only the bare necessities at a minimum. She said she was humbled by the generosity of other prisoners who shared lotion, shampoo and other toiletries with her, The New York Times noted. The judge admitted that he doubted the sincerity of her words. “I hope she really understands that she was wrong,” he said.

Korean Air declined to comment. Earlier, the president of the airline, Cho's father, publicly apologized for his daughter's behavior. As noted by the media, Cho is the eldest of his three children, who also hold senior positions in the company.

The court rendered a verdict in the “nut scandal” case. The daughter of Korean Air CEO Cho Hyun Ah has been sentenced to a year in prison for an incident that occurred on board a plane in early December 2014.

December 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York Before the flight to Incheon, one of the flight attendants served Cho nuts in a bag, and not on a plate, as instructed. At that time, the accused held the position of vice president of the airline and flew first class. Outraged by such service, Cho demanded that the flight attendant be removed from the flight. The aircraft commander, who was heading to the runway, had to return to the airport building. In addition, during the scandal, Cho shouted and insulted the flight attendants, forcing them to beg for forgiveness on their knees. “This is an example of a violation of human dignity,” said the judge who delivered the verdict.

This behavior of the former vice president of Korean Air caused public outrage. As the scandal gained momentum, Cho resigned and was placed in custody on December 30. Cho was accused of violating aviation safety regulations and obstructing justice by using his position. According to media reports, her company tried to force crew members to lie about the incident, allegedly the flight attendant left the board of her own free will.

[slon.ru, 02/12/2015, “The culprit of the “nut scandal” in the South Korean airline was sentenced to a year in prison”: According to Yonhap, the prosecution noted that the culprit of the scandal tried to influence the experts of the South Korean Ministry of Transport who carried out the inspection incident. - Insert K.ru]

The prosecutor's office demanded that she be sentenced to three years in prison, but the court found her not guilty on the second count. Another airline executive was convicted of obstruction of justice and received an eight-month prison sentence.

["Kommersant", 02/03/2015, "Three years in prison for the 'nut scandal' at Korean Air": During yesterday's court hearing, a senior flight attendant at Korean Air said that Ms. Chae Hyun Ah treated him and his fellow flight attendant "like to slaves” because she forced them to kneel before her in the first class cabin. Cho Hyun Ah said she regrets her action, which she said was due to her dedication to her work. [...]

Cho Hyun Ah's case is seen in South Korea as a symbol of the prevailing business climate. nepotism. The large family-owned conglomerates, called chobols, that dominate business in South Korea have traditionally been seen as a source of wealth for elites with little regard for the rule of law. Private Korean Air is part of Chobola Hanjin, owned by the Cho family, however, also has a special status as the country's national airline. Therefore, a blow to the company’s image is perceived in Korea as a blow to the image of the state. - Insert K.ru]

Cho's lawyers insisted that her behavior did not affect the plane's change of course. The judge categorically disagreed with them. “It makes sense to understand the course as not only the route in the air, but also the ground movement during the flight,” he said. Cho herself claimed that she did not know that the plane had started moving. But the judge rejected this claim too, noting that the staff informed her about this, to which she demanded to stop the plane. According to him, the actions of the accused led to a delay of 24 minutes, interfered with other airport operations and created a risk of collision with other flights.

“Although she had the right to remove a crew member from his duties as an employee of the company, such right should have been exercised in accordance with due process before the flight,” the judge said, noting that the return of the aircraft was beyond her scope. powers. The court said the pilot's decision to return to the airport was made on Cho's orders and was not his own decision. “This incident may not have happened if she did not consider the employees her slaves and controlled her temper,” the presiding officer said. “This is a serious incident that has put the safety of passengers at risk.”

The judge explained that he took into account the fact that the accused had 20-month-old twins, the absence of other criminal records and the fact that the accident did not happen after all, but added that it caused serious harm to the victims.

“As far as I understand, she repents,” said the defendant’s lawyer, noting that he has not yet discussed with his client the possibility of appealing the verdict. She also stated her repentance in a letter sent to the court. During sentencing, the judge read her letter of apology. At that moment, Cho, dressed in a green prison uniform, lowered her head, hiding her face under her long dark hair, and began to cry. According to the Korea Times, Cho sent six letters to the court apologizing and asking for leniency. In one of them, the accused told how she was adapting to prison life, where she was given only the bare necessities at a minimum. She said she was humbled by the generosity of other inmates who shared lotion, shampoo and other toiletries with her. The judge admitted that he doubted the sincerity of her words. “I hope she really understands that she was wrong,” he said.

Korean Air declined to comment. Earlier, the president of the airline, Cho's father, publicly apologized for his daughter's behavior. As noted by the media, Cho is the eldest of his three children, who also hold senior positions in the company.

Alexandra Koshkina

The “salt nuts scandal” surrounding Korean Air Vice President Cho Hyun Ah's outrageous behavior on board the plane continues to grow.

Now the reputation of the entire company as a whole is under attack, which, as it turns out, until the last moment tried to shield its superiors, and also tried to silence possible witnesses and participants in the incident. According to people on the plane, Cho insulted, hit and pushed the flight attendant and flight attendant several times. Belated apologies from the main culprit of the incident and the head of the holding cannot yet change the extremely negative public attitude.

Let us remind you that the incident occurred on December 5 on board the South Korean company Korean Air, which was flying along the route KE086 New York - Incheon. The plane, which began to depart from the terminal, unexpectedly returned to the “sleeve”, after which the senior flight attendant got off the plane. As it turned out, the initiator of such zigzags on the plane was the vice president of Korean Air, 40-year-old Cho Hyun Ah, who was also the eldest daughter of the chairman of the board of directors of the holding, who was among the passengers.

Cho, who was sitting in the first class cabin, did not like the way she was treated by the flight attendant. A bag of salted nuts was placed in front of Cho, when according to the rules they should have been placed on a plate. The vice president, according to eyewitnesses, threw a scandal, started shouting and eventually ordered the plane to be returned to the terminal and the senior flight attendant removed. As a result of the incident, the flight was delayed by 20 minutes, and the plane arrived at its destination 11 minutes late. This incident immediately became one of the main news in Korea, being called the “salted nut scandal.”

Cho Hyun Ah's resignation from all positions in the company under the pressure of public criticism, an apology from her, as well as from the head of the Hanjin holding, who called her daughter's behavior "stupid", cannot reassure the Koreans. A new reason for indignation was provided by the results of a survey conducted by the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Transport of witnesses and participants in the incident. Despite fears that people will be afraid to go against the leadership large company, they started talking.

Chief flight attendant Park Chang-jin, who was dropped off the plane by Cho Hyun-ah, stated that the situation was as follows. When the vice president began to scold the flight attendant, Park came up and apologized. Cho forced both the senior flight attendant and the flight attendant to look up the rules for serving passengers. However, when Cho was handed the file with documents, she continued to swear loudly, picked up the flight attendant who was sitting on her lap and began to push her and the senior flight attendant towards the cockpit. In the process, the vice president hit Park Chan-jin's arm several times, pushed the flight attendant on the shoulder again, and threw a document file at the wall next to her.

According to Park, the vice president said the following from outside the cockpit: “Contact the pilot immediately and stop the plane. I won’t let the plane take off.” At first, Cho wanted to disembark the flight attendant, but then she said the following, turning to the senior flight attendant: “In general, it’s your fault too, so get out.” After this, the plane was returned to the sleeve, and the flight attendant exited the aircraft.

Speaking to reporters, Park said that the flight attendant was extremely frightened, and the passengers on the plane were stunned, including those who were sitting in the regular cabin, but because of the vice president’s loud voice, everyone could hear. After the incident in the first class cabin, Cho casually said, “Sorry about the noise.”

For her part, after interrogation, ex-Vice President Cho Hyun Ah denied everything said, telling reporters that this was the first time she had heard about insults and the use of physical force on her part.

However, the flight attendant and flight attendant provided investigators with approximately the same picture. Their words were at least partially confirmed by a 32-year-old passenger named Park, who was sitting directly in front of Cho. She said Cho screamed very loudly, frightening the passengers, pushed the flight attendant and threw a file with documents against the wall of the plane.

Further details of the incident, which became known to the media, further angered the public. Despite all the denials from Korean Air, it now turns out that the company tried to shield the vice president by shifting all the blame to the flight attendant and flight attendant. Company employees claim that the entire crew's mobile phones were confiscated after the incident in order to find out who leaked information about the scandal to the media. As senior flight attendant Park Chang-jin said, 5-6 company employees then came to him, saying that he should confirm the company’s version and lie, admitting his guilt. “The person in charge at the Ministry of Transport is from our company, so if there is a problem, he will help us,” Paku was told. He, however, decided not to remain silent.

Passenger Park also stated that Korean Air also came to her, asking her to side with Cho Hyun Ah and say that she had apologized enough. “I was outraged by this approach. She didn’t apologize properly at all,” Park told reporters, presenting investigators with a picture of the incident that confirms the words of Park Chang-jin and the flight attendant.

In addition, during searches at the Korean Air headquarters, materials were obtained that prove the company’s desire to completely “cover up” the vice president and shift all responsibility to ordinary employees.

The main question now is who actually gave the order to turn the plane around. The fact is that only the commander of the aircraft can command on board, and everyone else, including the company’s management, are ordinary passengers. An attempt to interfere with management can be punished up to a prison term. The return of the liner to the sleeve can only be justified for safety reasons or an emergency situation. The issue of placing nuts in front of passengers is difficult to classify as such a category of cases.

Korean Air and Cho Hyun Ah, well aware of the threat to the vice president, unanimously stated that the decision to return the airliner “was made after consultations with the commander, and the order itself was given by the commander of the airliner.” However, now everything is going to the point that the commander was simply afraid to disobey Cho Hyun Ah, who had made a scandal on board, who was very influential and who was predicted to become the president of the company in the near future.

As a result, when ordinary passengers of the airliner began to speak against the version of the company and management, today Korean Air went into “dead defense”, saying that “it cannot comment on the incident, since the investigation is still ongoing.”

Now it is obvious that the “salted nuts scandal” has already reached its highest level. new level and does not concern only the behavior of one of the managers. The reputation of the country's main air carrier as a whole, which is Korean Air, has been severely damaged. Ordinary Koreans, the media and experts are outraged by the company’s desire to hush up the scandal and make them look guilty ordinary employees. A sarcastic video called “Air Nuts” appeared on the Internet and gained great popularity, which plays on the consonance of the Korean words “salted nuts” and “Korean.” In the recording, in the voice of a regular Korean Air advertisement, they promise to “feed nuts in at its best", clearly hinting at a scandal.

One after another, other unpleasant facts about the company began to emerge. It is noted that the rights of employees in the company are regularly violated, and Cho Hyun Ah always caused scandals on board. “When she flies, the whole crew is on pins and needles. She was constantly finding fault with something and throwing tantrums,” noted one of the company’s former employees. In addition, all the apologies and resignations for Cho Hyun Ah and her father, the head of the Hanjin holding Cho Yang Ho, clearly look forced. Until the very end, they wanted to keep Cho in the management, noting that she “although she made some noise, she should have pointed out the improper service.”

Koreans say that Cho should have apologized from the very beginning, and not now, when all the ugly ins and outs of the scandal began to emerge. In addition, Cho remained stubbornly silent for several days and did not react to the noise that had begun. According to South Korean media, on Sunday, December 14, Cho Hyun Ah and company employees tried to visit the homes of the flight attendant and flight attendant to make a personal apology. Those, as stated, “were not at home, and therefore former Vice President Cho left a personal letter of apology.” It is noted that Cho will once again try to personally apologize. Before this, Cho’s father apologized for him, admitting that he “raised his children poorly,” and called his daughter’s behavior “stupid.”

But for ordinary Koreans this seems too late. As the media and experts note, “the main air carrier of South Korea is in crisis, once again due to the actions of the management and the approach of the company as a whole.” It is possible that major changes are coming to Korean Air in an attempt to somehow restore public trust and eliminate a serious blow to its reputation.

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Illustration copyright Reuters Image caption For delaying the plane of his own airline, its former top manager Cho Hyun (center) was sentenced to a year in prison.

Former top manager of Korean Air, Cho Hyun, was found guilty of violating aviation laws and sentenced to a year in prison.

At the beginning of December last year, Cho Hyun caused a scandal because a business class flight attendant mixed up the recipient of the order and served Cho nuts that she did not ask for, and even in a package, and not on a plate, as required by Korean Air protocol.

Cho Hyun is the daughter of Korean Air CEO Cho Yang-ho, and at that time she served as vice president of the airline.

She ordered the flight from New York to Seoul to be delayed and the senior flight attendant to be removed from the flight.

Error in serving

The court ruling said that Cho Hyun's behavior "outraged human dignity."

According to the judge, Cho acted as if it was her personal plane.

“It is very doubtful that the serving of nuts was such a gross mistake,” the judge said.

Even before the trial began, Cho Hyun publicly apologized for her behavior and resigned from the company.

However, in his verdict, the judge noted that Cho showed insufficient remorse.

As a result, the court found the woman guilty of violating aviation safety rules, assault, and interfering with an investigation.

In addition, one witness said that Cho Hyun hit a crew member with a brochure of the airline's internal regulations.

Prosecutors demanded that Cho be sentenced to three years in prison.

In turn, Cho's defense insisted that no safety rules were violated - at the time of the incident, the plane was being towed from the airport gate to the runway.

The judge did not take this argument into account, since the official status of the flight was already “in flight”.

Illustration copyright AP Image caption Dressed all in black, Cho Hyun made a public apology for her behavior, keeping her head and face exposed as little as possible.

Stephen Evans, BBC correspondent in Seoul

Cho Hyun's case has become the focus of attention due to the ongoing debate in South Korea around the so-called "chaebols" - a local form of financial and industrial groups owned by wealthy families.

Critics believe that members of these families are given career priority, which is contrary to business laws. And in their opinion, this “nuts scandal” is the clearest example of how business should not operate.

In court, Cho literally cried when she read out her statement to the court, in which she apologized and expressed regret for what happened.

However, the judge said the remorse was fake.

But aside from the discussion about "chaebols", you can be sure that many will like how a representative of a privileged class of society was punished for his boorish behavior.

The humiliation that Cho experienced during this time may be no less severe a punishment than prison.

The daughter of the head of Korean Air and part-time former vice president of the company, Cho Hyun Ah, faces three years in prison on charges of violating safety rules on board the aircraft. This is what prosecutors are demanding for the “nut scandal,” which occurred when she was unhappy with the serving of nuts on board.


Seoul prosecutors have demanded three years in prison for the daughter of Korean Air CEO Cho Hyun-ah, who previously served as the airline's vice president. She is accused of violating safety rules on board. “The aircraft is considered to be in flight as soon as the door closes and the aircraft begins to move towards the runway. It is obvious that she broke the law by demanding to return,” the prosecutor said during the final hearing at the Seoul Western District Court.

In early December last year, Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of Korean Air CEO Cho Yang-ho, was on board her family's airline and was unhappy that one of the business class flight attendants served her peanuts in a bag rather than on a plate. relies on Korean Air protocol. She then demanded that the plane's takeoff be delayed so that the senior flight attendant could be removed from the flight. This incident caused heated discussion in South Korea, and due to a wave of criticism against her, Cho Hyun Ah resigned from Korean Air. She also apologized to the flight attendants for her behavior. On December 30, Cho Hyun Ah was arrested on charges of violating on-board safety regulations for delaying a flight, as well as insulting staff and interfering with flight attendants. Ms. Cho herself pleads guilty to only one charge, namely, insulting a flight attendant who served her nuts.

During a court hearing yesterday, Korean Air senior flight attendant Park Chan-jin said Ms Chae Hyun-ah treated him and his fellow flight attendant "like slaves" as she forced them to kneel before her in the first class cabin. Cho Hyun Ah said she regrets her action, which she said was due to her dedication to her work. Cho's lawyers insist that the charges against their client are overblown because her actions caused minimal threat to the flight, since the plane was on the ground and had not yet reached runway. In addition to Cho Hyun Ah, prosecutors sought a two-year sentence for a Korean Air manager for trying to influence the investigation by allegedly persuading crew members to lie about the incident to government investigators. Also, two years in prison was requested for a Transport Ministry employee who allegedly passed on classified information to a Korean Air manager.

The case of Cho Hyun Ah is perceived in South Korea as a symbol of nepotism reigning in business. The large family-owned conglomerates, called chobols, that dominate business in South Korea have traditionally been seen as a source of wealth for elites with little regard for the rule of law. Private Korean Air is part of the Hanjin Chobol, owned by the Cho family, but also has special status as the country's national airline. Therefore, a blow to the company’s image is perceived in Korea as a blow to the image of the state.

Natalia Barkhatova


How do airlines negotiate blacklists?


On June 11, 2014, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill that allows airlines to blacklist guilty passengers. Violation of the “rules of conduct on board an aircraft” can lead to the fact that the company will not be able to sell an on-board ticket to the erring passenger for five years, and at the same time will receive the right to publish his name and surname.

 

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