﻿There is something legendary about the crimes that took place before smartphones
were so commonly available and before cameras were installed everywhere. Before the times of
these safety measures, were the incidents that caused the safety measures to be necessary.
This is especially true when you take the story of DB Cooper into consideration.
A story greater than anything Hollywood could have thought of, the notorious crimes stay in the minds
of crime enthusiasts even now, a half-century later. This tale which involves a bomb threat,
a plane hijacking, and one of the most thrilling escapes in recorded history,
is a crime that remains unsolved to this day. With no conclusive ending or close
to this crime of the millennia, what is there to know about the infamous acts of DB Cooper?
It was the day before Thanksgiving; the year was 1971. It was undoubtedly supposed to be a routine
flight for the flight crew. Some people were likely traveling to visit family for the holidays,
and a short flight to the next state over didn’t seem to spell disaster. There were 36 passengers
recorded for that flight, which was set to take off on the afternoon of November 24. These 36
passengers did not include the flight crew, which consisted of the pilot, an airplane mechanic, a
first officer, and two flight attendants. Passengers were boarding onto this flight,
Flight #305, at the Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon. Amongst the passengers
boarding the plane was a man, described as being in his mid-40s. The man was unassuming enough,
lacking a unique or particular accent of any kind. The most notable part about this man was
his outfit; he is recorded to have been wearing a dark suit and tie. He was quiet and didn’t
raise much of an alarm for any of the people around him, traveling with a lone briefcase.
The ticket the man purchased was one-way and cost $20, or a modern-day equivalent of about $135.
He was seated in an aisle seat labeled 18C. As the plane took off, no one could have known
what was about to come. In the briefcase of the unassuming man was a mess of wires
and on his mind was a diabolical plan the world had yet to see. The only name gathered amongst
the flurries of his actions, and the aftermath would go down in history: Dan “DB” Cooper.
It was shortly after takeoff when Cooper grabbed the attention of one of the flight attendants.
This flight attendant’s name was Florence Schaffner, aged 23 at the time.
When she came to tend to Cooper, he gave her a slip of paper. Reportedly, it was common
for men who were traveling alone during these times to slip stewardesses’ phone numbers or
hotel information. Assuming it was another form of unreciprocated interest, Schaffner pocketed
the slip of paper but continued with her duties. It would be shortly after this, the next time she
was passing by Cooper, that the terrifying truth of the situation would become apparent. Cooper
grabbed her attention once more and beckoned her closer. When she was close enough, he quietly
told her she needed to read the note and indicated his briefcase contained a bomb. Stunned, Schaffner
read the message, which told her to sit next to him and reiterated his possession of a bomb.
Cooper moved to the window seat of the row, and Schaffner sat beside him in the aisle seat.
Showing her the briefcase, which was filled with wires, red sticks, and a battery, he told
her he wanted her to write down his demands. Doing as she was told, Schaffner wrote down
Cooper’s demands of four parachutes and $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills. He wanted these things to
be delivered when the plane landed in Seattle. If his demands were not met, he threatened to
blow up the plane and kill all those onboard. Going to the pilot and allowing him to read the
note, air traffic control was immediately contacted about the terrorist situation.
Air traffic control was just as quick to call Seattle Police, who phoned the FBI.
It was a short matter of time before the airline’s president was being called.
The president of Northwest Orient Airlines, Donald Nyrop, quickly advised Cooper’s
demands be met as promptly as possible. When Schaffner returned to let Cooper know
his demands were being met, he advised that she return the note, which she did. Unfortunately,
because of this, the exact wording of the note is unknown. After this, Cooper instructed
Schaffner to tell the pilot to stay in the air until the money and parachutes were ready.
Acquiring the items was difficult, as Cooper was very precise about how he wanted the items
given to him. He made sure to specify he wanted bills that were not sequential but, instead,
random, making it more challenging to track future usage. These requests were followed,
but it was confirmed each bill started with the letter “L” in its serial code.
The parachute request was more difficult than the money to abide by, as military parachutes
were offered first but were quickly declined by Cooper. Cooper wanted civilian parachutes
and wanted four of them, leading officials to believe he planned on taking an airborne hostage.
They had the thought of giving rigged parachutes but didn’t want to risk the lives of innocent
people who may be taken hostage by the criminal. When Cooper’s demands were prepared, further
instructions were given to those who planned on delivering the material needs. For example,
a car was to drive to the plane, and whoever delivered the items must come unaccompanied.
These demands were met, and Tine Mucklow, the second flight attendant, was instructed to get
the things. When she reboarded the plane, Cooper released the other passengers and
Florence Schaffner, but kept Mucklow and the three other male airline employees.
Once the plane was refueled, Cooper ordered the plane to take off on course to Mexico
City. However, he had very specific requests for how the aircraft – a Boeing 727-100 – should fly.
Cooper ordered the plane to stay below an altitude of 10,000 feet and keep airspeed
below 150 knots. Cooper also advised the pilot to depressurize the plane cabin.
When the pilot told Cooper they wouldn’t be able to make it to Mexico City with his flying
instructions on the gas capability of the plane, it was agreed the plane would make a stop in Reno,
Nevada, for a mid-trip fuel stop. After all these details had been figured out,
the aircraft was off the ground by 7:46 pm. When the plane was officially in the air,
Cooper ordered the crew into the cockpit with the doors closed. At this time, the cockpit
door had no peephole, and there were no cameras installed in the plane for the crew to watch.
They were trapped in the cockpit with no way of knowing just what Cooper was doing.
It was 14 minutes after the takeoff that a light on the plane’s monitors indicated
an open door. Over the intercom from the cockpit, the pilot asked if Cooper needed assistance or if
the crew could do anything for him. This seemed to irritate Cooper, who responded with a loud
and angry “no.” This short and straightforward word would be the last known word of DB Cooper.
24 minutes after this, the jet dipped and recorrected itself, and the pilot made sure
to note the spot the dip occurred. While it was assumed at this point Cooper had jumped
from the plane, none of the crew wanted to risk death by defying his orders. It would
be when they landed in Reno, Nevada, almost two hours later, that they confirmed the passenger
area of the plane was empty. DB Cooper was gone. Things seemed to have worked out in Cooper’s favor
that evening, whether it be by coincidence or because he did his research beforehand,
we’ll never know. The plan was originally for the plane to be followed by military jets to keep an
eye out for anyone who jumped. However, this ended up not being possible because of the slow speeds
the Boeing was traveling at. With jets capable of high speeds, they proved useless in this chase.
By the time more appropriate aircrafts were found to follow and officials caught up,
Cooper had already jumped. The weather following this
crime made it near impossible for officials to search that evening and night. The visibility
and safety issues brought by the weather led officials to delay searching until the next day.
When the weather was finally calmed, the search began. And search they did.
That Thanksgiving and for several weeks after, extensive searches were performed of the area
in hopes of finding any clues which would lead them to solve the case.
However, this would not happen. All traces of the hijacker, the money, and the parachute were
all gone. They had all successfully vanished. In the subsequent searches for a man who fit
the description and name of the criminal, police stumbled across the record of an Oregon man named
DB Cooper. The discovery of this man led to one reporter claiming the man to be the criminal,
which was repeated, thus becoming the legend of “DB Cooper.”
Before the spread of this misinformation, the man was simply known as “Dan Cooper.”
However, it has been determined since then that name was more than likely a fake to begin with.
The only evidence to have ever been found in regards to the hijacking of Northwest Orient
Airlines flight 305 occurred in February of 1980. About 8 years and some change after the crime,
a boy stumbled across bundles of twenty-dollar bills. The serial numbers listed on the bills
matched the listed serial codes given to Cooper. The boy, who was 8 years old,
found them in the Columbia River. New searches were held in that area, but if any evidence
remained, it was likely destroyed with the eruption of Mount St. Helen in May of 1980.
The discovery of these dollars has led many to believe that Cooper did not survive his skydiving
escape. If he had made it alive, certainly he wouldn’t have misplaced such large amounts of
money along the way. Not to mention, the beginning of winter in the American northwest is nothing to
take lightly. Others aren’t so sure, though. Over the half-century of time between the
crime and modern-day, many people have come forward claiming to be DB Cooper. Just as
many have come forward to claim DB Cooper was a relative of theirs. The FBI had taken some
time to investigate some of these claims, but none of them ever lead to anything.
As a result, it would be in 2016, almost 45 years after the crime was committed,
that the FBI announced they would no longer be putting resources into the search of DB Cooper.
The FBI also went on to clarify this case closing does not mean the case was solved. DB Cooper’s
identity has remained a mystery to this day and will likely always remain a mystery. Whether or
not he survived his jump will likely forever remain a mystery and will always be amongst
the first tales told when someone asks about the craziest true-crime tale to date. Dan “DB” Cooper
is forever cemented in American history. What do you think about the story of DB
Cooper? Are you surprised that a case like this has remained unsolved for so long?
Do you believe DB Cooper survived his jump from the plane, or do you, like many others,
believe the cash found in the Columbia River is a sure sign the man didn’t make it?
Whatever thoughts you may have, leave them down in the comments below. If you have any
recommendations for true crime topics you’d like to hear covered, recommend them down below. Until
next time, remember to subscribe to stay up to date with our true crime content. Stay safe!