In the wake of the infamous Korean Air nut rage incident, which put the airline's former vice-president Heather Cho Hyun-ah in prison for five months, South Korea has taken steps to toughen its aviation laws.
With effect from Tuesday, unruly and disruptive passengers who are found guilty of disturbing the pilot could face up to five years in prison or a hefty 50 million won ($41,500) fine.
In the past, the same offence did not carry any jail term and the fine was set at 5 million won ($4,000).
Under this new law, which was passed by South Korean parliament last year, crew members are also expected to report such passengers and incidents to the authorities, or risk a 10 million won ($8,300) fine for failure to do so.
"The amended law reflects mounting public demand for enhanced aviation safety and the prevention of unruly behaviour during flight following the Korean Air nut rage incident", the transport ministry said in a press statement.
In December 2014, Cho made global news headlines for forcing a Korean Air Seoul-bound plane to turn around and return to its gate at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Cho, whose father is the chairman of Korean Air, reportedly had a meltdown because she was served macadamia nuts in a bag instead of a bowl by flight attendant, Kim Do-hee. According to Cho, that was not first-class etiquette.
A lawsuit filed by Kim alleged that Cho had yelled obscenities and hit her with papers in the face and chest while she was forced to kneel before the executive.
The incident took place when the plane was taxiing and ready to take off, and subsequently caused the flight to be delayed. After confronting and berating the chief steward Park Chang-jin for Kim's behaviour, Cho then ordered the plane back to offload him.
The outburst earned Cho a one-year prison sentence for violating aviation safety law. A South Korean court later suspended Cho's prison term last year, and the former airline executive was freed after serving five months in jail.
Although Cho has since apologised for the incident, any cabin crew who encounters her in future will probably think twice about serving her any nuts again.