Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-Ah has reportedly been arrested for delaying a flight with a tantrum over snacks in a "nut rage" incident that caused an uproar across South Korea.
Cho has been accused of forcing the chief purser off a December 5 New York-Seoul flight and of compelling the taxiing plane to return to the gate so he could disembark.
She had taken exception to being served macadamia nuts she had not asked for - and in a bag, not a bowl.
Cable news network YTN showed Cho as she was taken by prosecutors to prison late on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old kept her head low and said "I'm sorry" as she left the building, broadcast footage showed.
The prosecutors' office had applied for an arrest warrant last week and this was finally granted by a court in Seoul late on Tuesday, the Yonhap news agency said.
Cho was charged with violation of the aviation safety law, coercion and interference in the execution of duty.
Cho Hyun-ah, center, the former vice president of Korean Air, leaves for the prison at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
An unidentified KAL executive was also arrested on Tuesday on charges of destroying evidence from the incident.
Cho - one of three children of Korean Air boss Cho Yang-Ho, the patriarch of business conglomerate Hanjin Group - has publicly apologised and resigned from all her posts in the organisation.
The transport ministry has vowed to sanction the airline with a flight ban, most likely on the New York-Seoul route, that could last for up to a month, or with fines of up to $US2 million ($A2.16 million).
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