Skyjacker Dan D.B. Cooper
In 1971 the Mystery Hijacker Parachuted into History with $200,000
In the annals of American crime perhaps no mystery figure looms as large as that of Dan "D.B." Cooper. Brazen skyjacker and amateur parachutist, the still unidentified Cooper remains the stuff of popular culture legend, spawning a series of books, films, novelty songs and endless speculation.
D.B. Cooper's Crime
After boarding Northwest Orient Flight 305 on November 24, 1971, at Oregon's Portland International Airport (ticket price: $18.52), a man calling himself Dan Cooper slipped a note to flight attendant Florence Schaffner following takeoff. "I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary," the note read in part.
Determining that the threat was real, Northwest Orient agreed to meet Cooper's demands: $200,000 in unmarked $20 bills and four parachutes. Before the cash was delivered, however, the FBI made a microfilm record of all 10,000 $20 bills for later identification.
D.B. Cooper Leaps into History
Upon landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Cooper collected his booty and promptly released all 36 passengers. The Boeing 727 was then refueled, with Cooper instructing the flight crew to chart a course to Mexico City, cruising at a requested altitude of 10,000 feet or below and at the relatively low air speed of 170 knots -- or 200 mph.
When informed that those particular flying specs would hamper the plane's effective operating range, Cooper then settled on Reno, Nevada, where the 727 would refuel once again.
Cooper never made it to Reno or Mexico City. Ordering flight attendant Tina Mucklow back to the cockpit, the skyjacker gathered his loot and two parachutes, opened the aft stairs and plunged into the dark, rainy night. Because of the bad weather, the U.S. Air Force F-106 fighters trailing the airliner failed to notice Cooper's exit.
The Search for D.B. Cooper
Upon landing in Reno some 2 1/2 hours later, the hijacked plane was boarded by FBI agents who took fingerprints and recovered items left by Cooper. The latter was sparse, comprised only of a black J.C. Penney tie with mother-of-pearl clip, two spare parachutes and the accompanying canvas bag.
After interviewing eyewitnesses, a composite sketch of the mysterious Dan Cooper (later dubbed "D.B. Cooper" because of a reporting error in the press) was made. The skyjacker was described as being in his mid-forties, between 5'10" to 6' in height, 170 to 180 pounds, and clad in a dark suit, white shirt, black tie, dark trench coat and sunglasses.
It was believed that Cooper had jumped from the airliner over the southwest portion of Washington state. An 18-day search of the area was then conducted to no avail. In April 1972, some 400 troops of neighboring Fort Lewis were enlisted in the hunt, but they too came up empty following a six-week search.
Evidence Is Found
Evidence from Cooper's crime eventually surfaced in periodic drips. In 1978, a hunter found a placard bearing instructions on how to open the aft stairways of a 727 only a few miles from Cooper's projected drop zone.
On February 10, 1980, eight-year-old Brian Ingram, out on a picnic with his family, found 294 decaying $20 bills still secured in rubber bands on the banks of the Columbia River about five miles northwest of Vancouver, Washington. A check of the bills' serial numbers confirmed that the money had come from the skyjacking.
Who Was D.B. Cooper?
Theories abound as to the real idenity of the infamous D.B. Cooper. One book claims that Cooper had survived his suicidal leap into the inky night, later laundering his cash in Las Vegas casinos.
Others named as Cooper have included notorious mass-murderer John List (a claim he vehemently denied right up to his death in 2008) and slain skyjacker Richard McCoy Jr. Also on the list: the late Duane L. Weber, an ex-con and World War II veteran from Florida, and Kenneth P. Christiansen, a former Northwest Airlines employee and ex-army paratrooper.
Owning a Piece of D.B. Cooper
Brian Ingram, now 36, the boy who had found remnants of Cooper's ransom money in 1980, has placed 15 of his 84 remaining $20 bills up for auction at Heritage Auction Galleries. The tattered Andrew Jacksons, authenticated and sealed into archival storage holders by PCGS of Santa Ana, California, will be auctioned in Dallas, Texas, and online on June 13 and 14, 2008.
Unsolved Case
The strange, unsolved case of mystery skyjacker D.B. Cooper continues to attract widespread interest today. A major motion picture was released in 1981 titled The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, with that film now available on import DVD and fueling additional interest as well.
Those with any information regarding the Cooper case are encouraged to contact the FBI's Seattle field office at fbise@leo.gov.
Geronimo, anyone?
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