Bowing her head in shame, a senior Korean Air executive whose 'nut rage' delayed a flight made a grovelling apology for exploding with rage after her snack was served in a bag.

Screaming Cho Hyun-ah, a senior vice-president at the airline, angrily demanded the removal of a crew member from a flight for failing to serve nuts in a bowl.

She then forced the Incheon-bound flight to taxi back to the terminal at New York's JFK Airport to kick the junior flight attendant off the plane.

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Cho Hyun-ah, a senior vice-president at Korean Air, apologised for delaying a plane leaving New York's JFK Airport over the way she was served nuts

Korean Air Flight 86 was already on the runway for its departure from when Cho lost her temper at the unidentified worker after they broke protocol and placed the a bag of macadamia nuts in front of her as she sat in first class, instead of putting them in a bowl

Cho demanded that the attendant bring out the company’s in-flight service manual so he could read the proper nut-handling guidelines. When he failed to find it, Cho lost her cool and ordered pilots to turn the plane around so he could get off the flight

Korean Air Lines had earlier excused her behavior even as it apologized for inconveniencing passengers. It said it was 'natural' for Cho to fault crew's ignorance of procedures

Clad in a long black coat, with her head bowed in shame Cho told reporters in an almost inaudible, trembling voice that she was 'sorry' about the December 5 incident.

'I sincerely apologize.' she said, gloomy-faced, adding that she will 'apologize sincerely' at a meeting with the victimized crew member.

Adding to her humiliation, her father and airline chairman Cho Yang-ho called her behaviour 'foolish' and said that he regretted that he didn't raise her better.

He added that his eldest would resign from her executive roles at all affiliates of Hanjin, the group that controls Korean Air.

Flight 86 was already on the runway for its departure when Cho lost her temper after an unidentified worker placed some macadamia nuts in front of her as she sat in first class.

Furious that he had not followed protocol and presented them in a dish she screamed at the attendant and told him to bring out the company’s in-flight service manual so he could read the proper nut-handling guidelines.

When he failed to find it, Cho lost her cool and ordered him to get off the flight.

'The chief flight attendant failed to get the right manual, and this led Cho to believe he was not qualified for that job,' a Korean Air official told the Korean Times at the time.

Cho's father, the chairman of Korean Air called his daughter foolish and said he regretted not raising her better: Cho Yang-ho also the public for forgiveness. Transport ministry officials are now checking whether she violated aviation safety law

Without giving the 250 passengers on board a warning, the pilots decided to give in to her demands and return to the airport to drop off the attendant, delaying the flight by around 20 minutes.

Her entitled actions caused an uproar in her home country and abroad.

South Korean media called the 40-year-old a princess and while others branded her an embarrassment to her country.

Earlier this week, Cho resigned as Korean Air's head of cabin service but retained other executive roles at the airline and its affiliated companies.

In a separate probe, prosecutors searched the headquarters of Korean Air Lines on Thursday after a civil society group laid a complaint about Cho's behavior on the plane.