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Thu, February 25, 2021 | 17:43
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'Heather Cho still has no sense of guilt'
'땅콩갑질' 조현아 결국 철창행…항로변경죄 첫 인정
Posted : 2015-02-12 19:43
Updated : 2015-02-12 20:57
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Ex-Korean Air executive gets one year in jail for ‘nut rage'

By Kim Rahn

Heather Cho
Heather Cho
Former Korean Air executive Heather Cho submitted letters of apology to a presiding judge for the "nut rage" scandal six times in the lead-up to Thursday's ruling in an apparent bid to beg for leniency.

Sentencing her to one year in prison, Seoul Western District Court Judge Oh Sung-woo said he did not recognize the "sincerity" of the letters, saying he doubted whether she has a sense of guilt about her behavior.

"I wonder whether she really thinks she was wrong," Oh said in the verdict.

The one-year prison term was lighter than the prosecution's demand for three years.

The court ruled that she forced a flight from JFK International Airport in New York to change its course, dismissing her lawyers' claim that it was not a course change. It was the first time in Korea that the charge has been recognized.

The court also ruled her guilty of committing acts of violence that disturbed flight safety, coercion and interfering with business.

Cho was indicted and jailed after she ordered a flight bound for Incheon to return to the gate from a taxiing area at JFK Dec. 5 and kicked a chief flight attendant, Park Chang-jin, off the plane as she was dissatisfied with the way a junior attendant served her macadamia nuts ― in a bag and not on a plate.

"It is reasonable to regard not only air route but also ground movement as a flight's course," the court said, dismissing the claim that a flight's course only meant an air route existing 200 meters above the ground. "We recognize the flight's planned course was changed."

Regarding Cho's claim that she was not aware that the plane started moving, the court said she was, because the in-flight announcement and seat belt signs showed the plane would be moving. "When Park told her that the plane already started, she told him to stop it. So she was aware of it," the court said.

It said her behavior delayed the plane's departure for 24 minutes, interfered with other planes' operations at the airport, and created the possibility of a collision with other flights. "Although she had the right to exclude a crewmember from duty as a company executive, such a right should have been exercised according to due procedure before a flight. Kicking the attendant off the plane was beyond her authority."

The court said the pilot's decision to return to the gate was on Cho's orders rather than his own judgment.

"This incident may not have happened if she did not regard employees as slaves and could control her temper," it said. "It is a serious case that put passengers' safety at risk."

In deciding the jail term, the court said it considered the fact that the incident did not cause an accident; that Cho generally admitted her acts; she was a first-time offender; she has 20-month-old twin boys; and Korean Air said it would guarantee Park and other crewmembers could continue working at the firm without problems.

The court did not recognize the charge that she interfered with the transport authority's official duties by making another company executive meddle in the investigation, citing a lack of clear evidence.

The executive, Yeo Woon-jin, was sentenced to eight months in prison for attempting to cover up the incident and destroying evidence during the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's investigation by forcing Park and other witnesses to lie to investigators.

A former ministry official, Kim Woon-sub, received a suspended one-year jail term for giving detailed information about the ministry's investigation to Yeo.

Cho's lawyers said they would consider an appeal. Regarding the ruling, Korean Air did not make any comment.


'땅콩갑질' 조현아 결국 철창행…항로변경죄 첫 인정

5개 혐의 중 4개 '유죄'…국토부 조사 개입 혐의는 무죄

'슈퍼 갑(甲)'도 철창행을 피하진 못했다.

이른바 '땅콩 회항' 사태로 사회적 물의를 빚은 조현아 대한항공 전 부사장에 대해 12일 법원이 징역 1년의 실형을 선고했다.

지난해 12월 5일(미국 현지시간) 뉴욕 JFK공항에서 인천으로 향하는 대한항공 KE086편 일등석에서 여승무원의 견과류 서비스 방식을 문제 삼아 '기내 난동'을 부린 지 두 달여 만이다.

재판부는 항공보안법상 항공기항로변경, 항공기안전운항저해폭행과 형법상 강요, 업무방해, 위계에 의한 공무집행방해 등 조 전 부사장에게 적용된 5개 가운데 4개 혐의를 전부 유죄로 판단했다.

국토교통부 조사를 방해했다는 위계에 의한 공무집행방해 혐의에 대해서는 무죄로 판단했다.

◇ 법원 '이륙 전부터 착륙 후까지가 '항로'' = 조 전 부사장에게 실형이 선고된 것은 이번 사건의 쟁점이 된 항공기항로변경 혐의를 재판부가 유죄로 판단한 것이 결정적이었다.

국내에서 항로변경죄가 적용된 것은 이번이 처음이다.

항공보안법 제42조(항공기 항로 변경죄)는 '위계 또는 위력으로써 운항 중인 항공기의 항로를 변경하게 하여 정상 운항을 방해한 사람은 1년 이상 10년 이하의 징역에 처한다'고 규정하고 있다.

조 전 부사장의 변호인은 재판 과정에서 '항공관련 법규에서 '항로'의 개념이 '항공로'와 동일하게 고도 200m 이상의 관제구역을 의미한다'며 당시 여객기는 지상로에 있었기 때문에 항로변경죄가 성립되지 않는다고 주장했다.

아울러 '공항의 관리를 받는 주기장에서 이동은 항로라고 볼 수 없다'며 '사건 당시는 엔진 시동도 걸리지 않았고 17m 정도의 거리를 차량에 의해 밀어서 뒤로 이동하다 바로 돌아온 것이므로 항로변경이라 할 수 없다'고도 했다.

그러나 재판부의 판단은 달랐다.

재판부는 '항로의 사전적 의미는 '항공기가 통행하는 공로(空路)'이긴 하지만 관련 법률상 항로는 명확하게 규정된 정의가 없다'며 '이럴 경우 사전적 의미 외에 입법취지와 목적, 입법연혁, 법률체계적 연관성을 고려하여 해석돼야 한다'고 판시했다.

이어 '민간 항공 안전과 관련해 채택된 헤이그 협약, 몬트리올 협약 등 국제협약은 항공기의 보호대상 범위를 '운항 중'으로 정하고 있다'며 '램프 지역에서 지상이동 중인 항공기를 게이트로 되돌아가게 한 행위는 항로변경죄에 해당한다'고 판단했다.

◇ '국토부 '부실조사', 조현아 탓 아냐'…공무집행방해죄 무죄 = 재판부는 조 전 부사장이 국토부 조사 전 과정에 개입해 '부실조사' 사태를 빚었다는 검찰 측 수사결과는 받아들이지 않았다.

검찰은 조 전 부사장이 국토부 조사 첫날이자 박창진 사무장과 서모 기장 등이 조사를 받은 지난달 8일 밤부터 여모(58·징역 8월 선고) 상무로부터 전화로 조사 상황을 보고받은 점 등을 근거로 위계에 의한 공무집행방해 혐의를 공소사실에 추가했다.

그러나 재판부는 '조 전 부사장이 여 상무와 공모해 대한항공 직원들이 국토부에서 허위진술을 하게 한 것은 국토부의 불충분한 조사가 원인'이라며 위계에 의한 공무집행방해 혐의를 무죄로 판단했다.

오히려 재판부는 '대한항공 임원을 참석시켜 승무원들이 진실을 말하기 어려운 상태에서 조사했고 직접 자료를 얻으려 하지 않고 여 상무 등에게 의존했기 때문에 폭행 부분 등을 명확히 밝혀내지 못한 것'이라며 '공소사실이 입증됐다고 볼 수 없다'고 말했다.

국토부의 '부실 조사'는 결과적으로 국토부가 자처한 일이라고 판단한 것이다.

재판부는 항공기안전운항저해폭행과 강요, 업무방해 등 나머지 혐의에 대해서는 모두 유죄가 인정된다고 판단했다.

다만 재판부가 선고한 조 전 부사장의 형량은 집행유예가 없는 항로변경죄를 포함한 4개 혐의가 모두 유죄로 인정됐음에도 검찰의 구형(징역 3년)보다는 다소 낮았다.

이에 대해 재판부는 '항공기 램프 리턴으로 사고가 발생하지는 않은 점, 이미 여론 악화로 상당한 고통을 받았고 피해자인 박창진 사무장과 여승무원 김모씨를 위해 공탁한 점, 20개월 된 쌍둥이의 어머니인 점 등을 참작했다'고 설명했다. (연합뉴스)
Emailrahnita@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter









 
 
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