DB Cooper

[TheSprostonGreener]

D. B. Cooper, aka Dan Cooper, is a pseudonym given to a notorious aircraft hijacker who in November 24, 1971, after receiving a ransom payout of $200,000, leapt from the back of a Boeing 727 as it was flying over the Pacific Northwest. No conclusive evidence has ever surfaced regarding Cooper's whereabouts, and several theories offer competing explanations of what happened after his famed jump. The only clues to have turned up in the case are ambiguous: around $5,000 that washed up on the banks of the Columbia River, and part of a sign believed to be from the rear stairway of the plane from which Cooper jumped. The nature of Cooper's escape and the uncertainty of his fate continue to intrigue people. Today, the Cooper case remains the world's only unsolved hijacking.

The Hijacking

At 16:35 on Thanksgiving Eve, November 24, 1971 in the United States, a man travelling under the name Dan Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines Boeing 727-051, (FAA Reg. N467US)[1] flight 305, flying from Portland International Airport (PDX) in Portland, Oregon, with the threat of a bomb (he had a briefcase containing wires and "red sticks"). D.B. Cooper boarded the plane of only 36 passengers and 6 crew. He wore a black raincoat, loafers, a dark business suit, a neatly pressed white shirt, a narrow black necktie and a pearl stickpin. He also had black wrap-around sunglasses.

The jet was barely in the air before he paged his flight attendant, Florence Schaffner, sitting nearby, for his drinks. As he paid her, he also handed her a note. She thought he was giving her his phone number, so she slipped it, unopened, into her pocket. Cooper leaned closer, "Miss, you'd better look at that note. I have a bomb." In the envelope was a note that said, "I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being hijacked."

When the flight attendant informed the cockpit about Cooper and the note, the pilot, William Scott, contacted Seattle-Tacoma air traffic control and was instructed to cooperate with the hijacker. Scott instructed Schaffner to go back and sit next to Dan Cooper, who opened his case a crack and closed it again, long enough for Schaffner to see red cylinders and wires. He instructed her to tell the pilot not to land until the money and parachutes were ready at Seattle-Tacoma. She went back to the cockpit to relay Cooper's instructions.

When the plane landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport near Seattle, Washington at 17:45, its intended destination, he released the passengers in exchange for $200,000 (in $20 bills) and four parachutes. At 19:45 he had the flight crew take the plane back into the air, ordering them to fly towards Mexico at low speed and altitude with the landing gear down and 15 degrees of flap. At some point during the journey he jumped out of the rear stairway of the aircraft with the money and parachutes. The FBI believed his descent was at 20:11 over southwest Washington, because the rear stairway "bumped" at that time. Due to poor visibility, his descent went unnoticed by the United States Air Force F-106 jet fighters tracking the airliner. He was believed to have landed southeast of the town of Ariel by the edge of Lake Merwin, 30 miles north of Portland, Oregon.

Despite an eighteen-day search of the projected landing zone, no trace of the man or his parachute was ever found, and it remains unknown whether he survived the escape. On February 13, 1980, $5,800 (in bundles of $20 bills) of the ransom money was found by a family on a picnic five miles northwest of Vancouver, Washington on the banks of the Columbia River.

The FBI questioned and then released a man by the name of D. B. Cooper, who was never considered a significant suspect. Due to a miscommunication with the media, however, the initials "D. B." became firmly associated with the hijacker and this is how he is now known.

Following three similar (but less successful) hijackings in 1972, the Federal Aviation Administration required that all Boeing 727 aircraft be fitted with a device known as the "Cooper Vane", a mechanical aerodynamic wedge that prevents the rear stairway from being lowered during flight.



Courtesy of Wikipedia


Thought this may be of interest to some of you?

[TheSprostonGreener]

The community of Ariel in Cowlitz County, Washington, commemorates the incident with an annual celebration called "D. B. Cooper Days."

[doctor]

Really? omg i loved that! the writers are so smart to involve this kind of story to the show! hope to see D.B COOPer in episode 5!

[TheSprostonGreener]

sorry mate he died in season 1 ep 22!! lol

Maybe in flashback though????

[doctor]

yeah of course flashback! maybe his ghost fell on michael and linc head from the plane

[TheSprostonGreener]

lmao yeah maybe!!

[TheSprostonGreener]

Interesting episode of Unsolved Mysteries dedicated to it too

Very interesting and glad to see shows now days can have some truth in them. Instead of a bunch of made up junk.

Wait...so this is a real thing?

It will be interesting to see how they find the money now that there are houses on the land. It seems like they keep running into obstacles everywhere they turn, but it sure makes for good TV.