Physician pleads guilty in Sea-Tac bomb threats

A Tennessee physician who phoned in three bomb threats to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in July in an effort to keep his plane from leaving without him pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of false information and threats.

Kou Wei Chiu, 31, of Nashville, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced Feb. 22 in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

According to court documents, Chiu admitted calling in three bomb threats July 25 in an effort to hold his Northwest Airlines flight to Memphis at the gate because he was running late.

When the first and second calls from an airport pay phone had no effect, he called in a third threat, indicating there was a bomb on board the flight, according to court documents.

By then the plane had taken off. The third call prompted the plane to return to the airport, and it was grounded for several hours.

Chiu was arrested after people reported hearing him at the pay phones making the threats.

When Port of Seattle police confronted Chiu and asked him if he had made the bomb threats, Chiu replied: "Regrettably, yes, I did," according to court documents.

FBI investigators said he made the calls thinking Northwest "would ground the plane for a couple of hours" because bomb threats are taken seriously, according to court papers. Chiu said he had been on a business trip to Seattle and was to take Flight 980 back home. He also claimed he had neglected to take his antidepressants in the previous days.

Federal prosecutors said the incident cost Northwest Airlines more than $70,000 in fuel, gate fees and other expenses and forced the plane to land with a dangerously full fuel tank.

Information previously reported in The Seattle Times is included in this report. Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com