Criminals rarely evoke positive feelings in us. The case of D.B. Cooper is considered an exception to this rule. It is also one of my favorite unsolved crime mysteries.
In November 1971, the man boarded the plane. Dan Cooper acted and looked like a cultured middle-aged businessman. However, he was distinguished from other passengers by the fact that ... he had a bomb with him. The mysterious hijacker wanted to fulfill several of his demands. When the authorities obediently filled in all of them, the man jumped unexpectedly from the flying plane. What was his further fate? Traditionally, I invite you to read!
Let's go back in time to Wednesday, November 24, 1971. It was the day before Thanksgiving. Many Americans then traveled all over the country, wanting to spend another day with their relatives. One of the travelers was a man named Dan Cooper at the ticket office. In the context of subsequent events, it should be assumed that this was not his real identity. For the purposes of our story, however, this is what I will call the main character.
It is worth adding that in the 1970s, the purchase of airline tickets looked completely different than today. It was enough to give only your first and last name. Nobody has even verified the identity on the basis of any document. There were also no security controls as we know them today. It is true that we associate the tightening of procedures with the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001. It seems inconceivable, however, that several dozen years ago it was not even necessary to show a passport or other document with a photo.
In any case, Dan Cooper bought a plane ticket that was departing from Portland, Oregon, USA. This was flight 305 to Seattle, Washington, USA. The carrier was the Northwest Orient airlines. It later changed their name to Northwest Airlines, which is now part of Delta Air Lines. Cooper boarded the Boeing 727-100 and took a seat in the rear of the plane. It was called "18C".
The hero of this story was later described by witnesses as a tall man in his 40s. It is estimated that he was about 178-183 cm tall. Cooper wore an elegant dark suit that day. His white collared shirt was neatly ironed. He also wore a black tie with a mother-of-pearl hairpin. He wore a black coat and loafers on his legs. At one point during the flight, the man also put on sunglasses. Probably in this way he wanted to make it difficult to later determine his appearance and identity.
As the plane took off from Portland airport, Cooper handed a note to flight attendant Florence Schaffner. The woman initially thought that the man had given her his phone number. It happened that passengers hit her like this. The flight attendant, however, was not interested in this, so she immediately put the paper in her pocket. So she didn't read the message.
Dan Cooper noticed this and suggested that the woman should take a better look at the note. He added that he had a bomb. This unusual argument was of course convinced by Schaffner. It turned out that the note contained confirmation that an explosive was hidden in the suitcase. The kidnapper informed that he would detonate the bomb if the need arose. The man also asked the flight attendant to sit next to him and follow his instructions.
The memo requested $200,000 and two parachute sets. Each of them was to be equipped with one main and one emergency parachute. According to the instructions, the money and parachuting equipment was to be delivered when the plane lands at Seattle airport. The hijacker declared that he would otherwise detonate the explosive.
After the flight attendant informed the rest of the crew about the situation, pilot William Scott contacted Seattle-Tacoma airport staff. They, in turn, passed on the message to the police and the FBI. Federal agents contacted Northwest Airlines president Donald Nyrop. The man recommended that the pilots cooperate with the hijacker.
Scott ordered the flight attendant to return to the seat next to Cooper and make sure the bomb was real. The man opened the suitcase and showed Schaffner that it contained, among others, a large battery and wires. It looked like a bomb to a woman. So Florence returned to the cockpit. She told the pilot that she had to refrain from landing. So the plane began circling over Puget Bay. Passengers were informed that the landing was delayed for technical reasons. Nothing was mentioned about the hijacker, lest panic breaks out on board.
The pilots waited for the FBI to collect and deliver the ransom and parachutes. At that time, the "order" was being completed. It took a while as federal agents recorded the serial numbers of each of the 10,000 bills. The decision was made to withdraw $ 200,000, not in hundred-dollar bills, but in twenty-dollar bills. Service officials thought a sack filled with money would be larger and heavier, and therefore more problematic for Cooper.
At 5:24 pm, airport traffic control established contact with Scott. The pilot was informed that all items requested by the hijacker had been delivered. So Cooper gave the captain permission to land. The plane completed its route on the Seattle-Tacoma airport lane at 17:39. The hijacker instructed the pilot to stop the aircraft in a remote part of the landing field. In addition, the windows were to be covered. The man was afraid that he might become a target of police snipers.
Cooper ordered one person to provide the ransom and parachutes. The chosen one was one of the Northwest Orient employees who waited at the back flight of the plane. He then handed the money and equipment to flight attendant Mucklow. Minutes later, the hijacker released all 36 passengers as well as flight attendant Schaffner. Pilot Scott, First Officer Bob Rataczak, Flight Attendant Mucklow, and Flight Engineer H.E. Anderson were not allowed to leave the plane.
Cooper's plans and his request for four parachutes were a mystery to the FBI. The agents wondered if Cooper had an accomplice aboard. Another theory was that the parachutes were to be used by the crew of whom there were just four left. Special agencies were also surprised. Until now, no one had tried to jump with a parachute from a hijacked civil plane before.
The plane was refueled. During this time, Cooper carefully checked the money and parachutes received. Together with the crew, he also began to work out the details of the route. The hijacker wanted to take off around 7:40 pm and fly to Mexico City, the capital of Mexico. According to Cooper's plan, the speed was to be 185 km / h, and the altitude was not more than 3000 m. It should be added at this point that the standard cruising altitude is in the range of 7600-11000 m. The average speed during the flight of a jet is also several times higher.
The first officer, Rataczak, replied that with such parameters, the passenger plane can cover only 1,600 km. Several scenarios were considered. Ultimately, the hijacker agreed to land in Reno, Nevada. The jet was to be refueled there. The flight path led through the Cascade Mountains. Cooper also instructed the pilot not to pressurize the cabin of the plane. This meant that at an altitude of 3,000 m it was possible to breathe normally with equal pressure inside and outside the cabin. This action was also intended to prevent violent airflow when attempting to leave the Boeing during flight.
Shortly after taking off again, Cooper ordered flight attendant Mucklow, who was with him, to join the rest of the crew in the cockpit. Before the woman entered, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the kidnapper was tying something to his waist. It looked like a rope. Moments later, one of the lights in the pilot's cabin started to light. It signaled that Cooper had activated the rear staircase mechanism. Scott then asked over the intercom if the hijacker expected any action from the crew. The man denied it.
After a while, the crew noticed a change in cabin pressure. It turned out that the stairs at the rear of the plane had extended. This allowed Cooper to jump out of the flying jet. It is believed to have taken place around 8:13 PM over the southwest of Washington state. When the hijacker unexpectedly disembarked the Boeing, a violent storm prevailed outside. The sun had set before, so it was dark too. Due to the very limited visibility of the jump, the pilots of the two F-106 fighters were not noticed. The military planes followed in the footsteps of the kidnapped Boeing. One was flying over and the other under the hijacked aircraft.
At approximately 10:15 pm, almost 2.5 hours after take-off from Seattle-Tacoma airport, the Boeing 727 landed in Reno. The airport was surrounded by FBI agents and local police. The services decided to do so even though the pilot reported that Cooper had jumped out of the plane. Federal agents boarded the machine to search for evidence left behind. Multiple fingerprints (which may have belonged to the kidnapper or other people), a tie with a cufflink, and two of the four parachutes were discovered. Eight Raleigh cigarette butts were also found but were lost sometime later. The inside of the jet was thoroughly searched, but the hijacker was nowhere to be found. With him, his suitcase, ransom bag, and two parachutes were missing.
The investigators also interviewed people who had contact with the kidnapper. The witnesses described the man's behavior and appearance. On this basis, a memory portrait of Cooper was prepared. The descriptions indicated by the crew members were the same. On this basis, it is assumed that the actual appearance of the man was very similar to the effect of the work of police cartoonists.
The FBI wanted to solve the case as soon as possible. At first, attempts were made to determine whether the name given by the kidnapper had any meaning. Based on this, investigators found a man from Oregon named D.B. Cooper. He had a criminal record, although these were not serious crimes. It was quickly established that it was in no way related to the whole event. Local newspaper journalist James Long reported on the story. However, he made a mistake and in the article named the kidnapper D.B. Cooper, not Dan Cooper. This mistake was repeated by many other journalists, and the case grew really loud. For this reason, everyone began to call the perpetrator D.B. Cooper and has remained so to this day.
In February 1980, eight-year-old Brian Ingram was spending a vacation with his family on the Columbia River in a place known as Tina (according to other Tena sources) Bar. On February 10, the boy was shuffling the sand on the river bank to light a fire. Unexpectedly, Brian then came across three bundles of money with a total value of $5,800. The find was reported to the police.
FBI agents examined the money and confirmed that it came from the ransom. The bills were in the same order the kidnapper received them. It was significant that one roll was missing ten twenty-dollar bills. The cash was partially damaged due to the prolonged exposure to moisture. The rubber bands with which the bills were tied were in good condition.
This discovery initiated many new hypotheses. Ultimately, however, there were more questions than answers. The main question was how long the banknotes remained there. It has not been possible to determine precisely when this could have happened. It is assumed that the money most likely entered the water at least a few months after the kidnapping. Some researchers and enthusiasts of the case believe that it was Cooper himself who later planted part of the ransom in order to confuse FBI agents who were tracking him. Was it really so? This has not been confirmed or denied.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation decided to keep thirteen banknotes. It was one of two tangible pieces of evidence in the case that was found outside of the hijacked Boeing. The second was a sign with instructions to lower the rear stairs in the Boeing 727. This item was discovered in November 1978 by a hunter. The man found the sign near a forest road about 21 miles east of Castle Rock, Washington. This place was on the route of the plane hijacked by Copera.
In 1986, the rest of the ransom money found was split equally between the Northwest Orient insurer and the Ingram family. In 2008, Brian Ingram decided to put up fifteen of his banknotes at an auction. They were eventually sold for $37,000.
Federal agents assumed that Cooper's nickname was derived from a popular Belgian comic book series that was published in French. The title character, Dan Cooper, appeared in them. This character was a pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Comic book Dan Cooper has participated in numerous heroic missions. Importantly, he also jumped with a parachute.
The comics in question have never been translated into English. They were also not distributed in the United States. It has been speculated that the criminal had come into contact with them during his military service in Europe. The man could also have connections with Canada, where French is also one of the official languages. Another argument for this hypothesis was that the comic book hero belonged to the Canadian army. Also in this case, however, it was not possible to find evidence that would support this theory.
Cooper seemed to know the Seattle area. It was also supposed that he may have been a veteran of the US Air Force. For he recognized the city of Tacoma from the air as the jet circled Puget Sound Bay. He also told flight attendant Mucklow that McChord Air Force Base was about a 20-minute drive from Seattle-Tacoma Airport. It was information that the vast majority of civilians would not have known.
It has been speculated that the kidnapper's financial situation was most likely desperate. So thought retired FBI chief investigator Ralph Himmelsbach. In his opinion, scammers and other criminals who steal large sums of money almost always do it because they urgently need it. People with financial resources would not risk being caught and severely punished. There was also another scenario. Cooper may have been a thrill-seeker who made a historic leap solely to prove that it was possible.
During an investigation that lasted several decades, the FBI had several hundred suspects on its long list. I will present only a few of the most famous and most reminiscent of Cooper.
One of the prime suspects was Richard Floyd McCoy Jr. (1942-1974) who was a war veteran. The man served in the US Army twice during the Vietnam War. During his second stay, he was a helicopter pilot, so he had knowledge and experience related to aviation. After his military service, he became an ensign of the Utah National Guard. Importantly, he loved parachuting.
On April 7, 1972, McCoy carried out the most famous of several kidnappings inspired by the feat of an unidentified perpetrator. The 30-year-old boarded a Boeing 727 belonging to United Airlines. It was therefore the same model of the plane used by D.B. Cooper. The jet was leaving Denver, Colorado this time. McCoy has threatened to have a grenade and a firearm with him. The man threatened to use if necessary. It later turned out that the grenade was in fact a paperweight and the gun was not loaded.
McCoy Jr. demanded four parachutes and $500,000. The money and parachutes were delivered to San Francisco International Airport. The hijacker then ordered the pilots to take off again. The man jumped out of the plane near the city of Provo, Utah. McCoy, like Cooper, did not avoid mistakes. For he had left a handwritten kidnapping plan and fingerprints on the magazine he was reading.
The hustle and bustle did not enjoy his success for a long time. He was arrested just two days later, on April 9. At that time, he had the ransom money with him, which was irrefutable proof of his guilt. McCoy was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his actions. Two years later, the 32-year-old escaped from a prison in Lewisburg with several partners. He was found three months later in Virginia Beach, where the offender was shot and killed by one of the FBI agents.
To this day, there are doubts as to whether McCoy was actually Cooper or just one of his followers. The first theory is undoubtedly similar to the two cases. The man's family also believed that the tie and mother-of-pearl clip left on the plane by Cooper belonged to McCoy.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, on the other hand, deleted the man from the list of suspects. The main reason was the significant discrepancies in age and description. McCoy was also considered too good a skydiver. According to experts, a person with such experience would not have decided to leave the plane in the weather conditions that prevailed during the first hijacking.
In addition, evidence was found that McCoy was in Las Vegas on the day of the hijacking of a Boeing flying to Seattle. A day later, he was at his home in Utah, where he ate a Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Interestingly, McCoy himself never confirmed or denied that he was Cooper.
In 2003, a Minnesota resident, Lyle Christiansen, watched a TV documentary about D.B. Coats. He then became convinced that his brother Kenneth (1926-1994) might have been the kidnapper. He first informed the FBI about it. He also contacted film director Nora Ephron. The man hoped that she would make a film in which he presented this theory. Lyle's efforts proved unsuccessful. Then he hired a private detective. It was Skipp Porteous from New York. In 2010, the detective published a book intended to convince readers that Kenneth Christiansen was D.B. Cooper.
Lyle's brother joined the military in 1944 and was trained as a paratrooper. World War II was soon over. The man, however, made training jumps while stationed in Japan in the late 1940s. In 1954, Christiansen began working in the Northwest Orient as a mechanic. Then he became a flight attendant and then steward in Seattle.
In 1971, Christiansen was 45 years old, but he was shorter (173 cm), thinner (68 kg), and had a lighter complexion than Cooper reported by eyewitnesses. Christiansen, like the kidnapper, smoked cigarettes and liked the bourbon. Flight attendant Florence Schaffner told reporters that Kenneth reminded her of the kidnapper more than any of the other suspects whose photos she had seen. The woman, however, was not able to conclusively confirm that he was the perpetrator of the kidnapping.
Despite the publicity of Porteous's book and 2011 TV documentary, the FBI has upheld its position that Christiansen cannot be considered a prime suspect. Investigators claimed that the man was not sufficiently similar to the image in the memoir portrait. Christiansen was also expected to have more skydiving experience than Cooper. There was also no evidence of the alleged perpetrator's guilt.
Sheridan Peterson (1926-2021) served in the Marine Corps during World War II. Later, the man worked as a technical editor at Boeing in Seattle. Investigators qualified Peterson as a suspect shortly after the incident. The reason was the man's experience as a skydiver and his love of taking risks. Sheridan was also quite similar to Cooper's description. His age (44) was also in line with the testimony of the witnesses.
Peterson often teased the media about whether or not he was really Cooper. Entrepreneur Eric Ulis, who had been investigating the case for many years, claimed to be "98% convinced" that Sheridan was a Cooper. When FBI agents began to investigate this possibility, Peterson insisted that he was in Nepal at the time of the hijacking.
In late 2007, it was publicly announced that a partial DNA profile was obtained in 2001 from samples found on Cooper's tie. At the same time, the FBI admitted that it was not certain that the genetic material belonged to the kidnapper. Investigators also provided previously unpublished evidence. Among them was, among others Cooper's flight ticket from the memorable flight 305.
The FBI also revealed that the hijacker chose an outdated military parachute. A professional sports parachute, which could be better maneuvered in the air, seemed to be a better solution. Cooper was also supposed to choose a dummy as a reserve parachute. It was a stitched parachute that was used for demonstrations in the classroom. According to federal agents, an experienced jumper would recognize that it was unusable. The hijacker also used a rope from a functioning parachute that jumped to secure a bag of money.
In March 2009, the FBI revealed that Tom Kaye, a paleontologist at the Seattle Museum of Natural History and Culture, was leading a new research group. This team was named the "Cooper Research Team". Its members re-examined important aspects of the case. The research used GPS, satellite imagery, and other modern technologies that were unavailable in 1971. It is true that much new groundbreaking information has not been obtained. Instead, electron microscopy examined hundreds of tiny particles on Cooper's tie. The results were interesting. Spores of a plant from the Lycopodium family have been identified. It is assumed that they probably came from some medicine. Traces of metals were also found: bismuth and aluminum.
In November 2011, Kaye announced that traces of pure titanium had also been found on the tie. This metal was much less used in industry in the 1970s than today. At that time, it was used in plants producing metals. Chemical companies, on the other hand, used titanium, which, in combination with aluminum, was used to store extremely corrosive substances. On this basis, it was presumed that Cooper may have been working in metal fabrication or chemical plants.
In January 2017, it was reported that rare minerals such as cerium and strontium sulfide were also identified among the particles in the tie. In the 1970s, they were used in special Boeing projects. This could explain Cooper's knowledge of building a hijacked plane. These chemicals were also used by the factories producing picture tubes. There were at least two such companies in Portland: Teledyne and Tektronix. There was a possibility that the kidnapper was working in one of them. However, it was not possible to confirm this information (or at least it has not been publicly announced).
It is worth adding that while waiting for cash and parachutes, Cooper as if nothing had happened, sipped bourbon with lemon-lime soda. The man also smoked cigarettes, as it was not forbidden on airplanes in the 1970s. Tina Mucklow told about the kidnapper after the whole incident. The woman was the flight attendant who spent the most time with Cooper.
Mucklow described the man as nice and calm. He didn't act like the typical kidnapper we usually imagine to be the aggressive, brutal, and adrenaline-fueled criminal. The kidnapper even paid for his drinks and even left a tip. He also demanded that the crew be provided with a meal upon landing in Seattle. In the end, none of the passengers or crew members were hurt.
All these aspects make D.B. Cooper has a reputation as one of history's most beloved criminals. He was also undoubtedly famous that the FBI never managed to discover his true identity. The services did not capture the man or find his body. To this day, Cooper remains the only hijacker in US history that was unsuccessful. It is also the only issue of its kind in the world that has not been clarified. The kidnapper's audacious action ended in a severe slap that was aimed at the FBI. This amazing story ignites the imaginations of many enthusiasts who try to find out the true identity of the perpetrator and his further fate. Let us hope that one day we will manage to find out the solution to this puzzle.
No comments:
Post a Comment