On November 24, 1971 Dan Cooper boarded a Northwest Boeing 727 headed from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA and proceeded to his seat number 18C. After take off the man handed a note to a young attractive flight attendant. Assuming it was his phone number or hotel room number she slipped it into her pocket and didn’t give it another thought. Moments later the man waved her in close and said, “Miss you better look at that note. I have a bomb”. The flight attendant looked at the note which informed her that he was planning to hijack the plane and would use his bomb if necessary. Quickly to flight attendant alerted the captain of the jet. Word eventually made it to the president of Northwest Airlines, who instructed the crew to do just as the man requested
Dan Cooper’s requests were 4 parachutes (2 for his back and 2 emergency chest chutes) and $200,000 in unmarked $20 bills. While the FBI scrambled to meet Dan Cooper’s requests the jet circled Puget Sound waiting to land. The FBI gathered the requested items and photographed all 10,000 $20 bills. The pilot landed the jet and was instructed to taxi to a remote section of the landing strip where the passengers and flight attendants were released and the exchange was made.
Dan Cooper ordered the pilot to put the hijacked jet back into the sky. He specified how fast and at what altitude the jet should fly. Seemingly knowledgeable about flying and skydiving, Cooper opened the aft stairs on the jet and jumped only 35 minutes after the craft left the ground. Since the crew was ordered into the cockpit and threatened with a bomb detonation if they opened the door, that was the last time anyone has seen or heard from the hijacker.
Though the FBI had military aircraft following the 727 they were unable to spot Cooper jumping from the jet due to the weather conditions. An area of Washington was closed off and a manhunt was launched but there was no sign of him or his loot.
Due to a reporting error by a local news anchor Dan Cooper became known to the public as D.B. Cooper. This name is believed by the FBI to be as well recognized as Jack the Ripper.
Because of D. B. Cooper the copycat criminals that followed, the FAA implemented more strict airport security and regulations. The Cooper vane is a mechanical wedge that prevents the rear stairway of an aircraft from being lowered in flight. This device was named after and made standard on aircrafts because of Cooper’s crime.
There are still speculations as to the whereabouts of D.B. Cooper and his loot. Other than $5880 found on the banks of the Columbia River by an eight year old boy, none of the money has surfaced. This infamous crime has spawned books, movies, and periodicals speculating what actually happened. I wonder if we will ever actually find out if this was the most brilliant crime of our time or if D. B. Cooper’s remains will eventually turn up and we will realize it wasn’t really smart at all!
Read more:
Krajicek, D. (n.d.) D. B. Cooper The Legendary Skyjacker. Retrieved on July 22, 2008 from:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/scams/DB_Cooper/index.html
D. B. Cooper (2008) Retrieved July 22, 2008 from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper
1 comment:
That was an amazing story. I think I have seen something about this before on television, but did not pay it much attention. Now, I wish I would have.
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