New Leads Sought in D.B. Cooper Skyjacker Case

May 19, 2008

The advent of new technologies and DNA testing has resulted in renewed efforts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to solve the 36-year-old mystery of the D.B. Cooper skyjacker case.

"Who was Cooper?  Did he survive the jump?  And what happened to the loot, only a small part of which has ever surfaced," reads a recent press release by the FBI.  "Would we still like to get our man?  Absolutely.  And we have reignited the case—thanks to a Seattle case agent named Larry Carr."

This case first began on November 24, 1971, when a man who identified himself on travel documents as Dan Cooper boarded Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, in route from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington.  Shortly after the flight took off Cooper handed a female flight attendant a note that read "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."

Cooper had on his possession a briefcase that contained numerous wires, dynamite-like sticks and a large battery.

Cooper demanded $200,000, made up of all $20 bills with random serial numbers and four parachutes.  He then instructed the pilot to circle over Puget Sound.  Later that day, upon hearing confirmation from the pilot that his demands had been met, Cooper instructed him to land at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where he exchanged the passengers for the ransom.  Afterward cooper ordered the pilot to fly the jet toward Reno, Nevada.  Per his instructions the plane was to fly at a speed of 170 knots and an altitude of less than 10,000 feet, some 15,000 feet below the planes normal cruising altitude.

Once the plane was back in the air, Cooper ordered a stewardess who remained on board to go into the cockpit.  Shortly thereafter, approximately 25 miles north of Portland, the pilot observed a warning light on his console that the jets aft door had been opened.  The flight crew decided not to investigate whether Cooper had jumped and the jet later landed in Reno, Nevada, where their suspicions were confirmed.  While there was no doubt Cooper had jumped, his exact landing zone remained a mystery and could only be based on the pilots account of when the jet door had been opened.

Despite massive ground searches of Ariel, Wash., and the Lake Merwin Dam of the Lewis River, no trace of evidence was found and the case remained a mystery.

The first break in the case came in February 1980, when an eight-year-old boy who was picnicking with his family found...

Continue Reading New Leads Sought in D.B. Cooper Skyjacker Case

D.B. Cooper Sketch Courtesy of the FBI

Comments

[Sue Pender]

I have heard that he was alive until about 2003 and living somewhere in Oregon using an Alias name. I heard that Galen Cook has a good subpect and is going to tell who he believes D. B. Cooper is sometime this week. sue

[new technology]

i have read about this case several times. I always wonder if he is alive or not.