South Korean prosecutors charged the former Korean Air executive in the "nut rage" case on Wednesday with violating aviation security law and hindering a government investigation.

Cho Hyun-ah, who is the daughter of the airline's chairman, ordered a flight attendant off a Dec 5 flight after he offered her macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a dish. The plane returned to the gate at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Cho's actions "threatened the safety of the flight and caused confusion in law and order", prosecutor Kim Chang-hee told local television networks.