SEOUL: A South Korean court sentenced the daughter of Korean Air Lines' chairman to one year in prison after finding her guilty over an on-board incident in New York concerning the way she was served nuts in first class.

Heather Cho, daughter of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho and the former head of in-flight service, violated the law by ordering the plane to return to the gate after it started to taxi on December 5.

Heather Cho has been found guilty over an on-board incident dubbed 'nut rage' Credit:Reuters

Cho had demanded the flight crew chief be expelled from the flight after a first class stewardess served her macadamia nuts in a bag and not on a dish. The plane, which had started to move away from the gate, had to return, an episode that provoked both scorn and outrage.

"This is a case where human dignity was trampled upon," Judge Oh Sung-woo said on Thursday.