Did DB Cooper Get Away With It - Research Paper Example

Did DB Cooper Get Away With It? On the day before Thanksgiving 1971, one of the most famous airplane hijackings in US history took place in the skies over the Pacific Northwest. In the over forty years since, the “DB Cooper” case has continued to rivet the nation’s, if not the world’s, attention. Since no corpse was ever found, the question remains. Did DB Cooper survive, and if so did he get away with the only successful hijacking? Wednesday, November 24, 1971 a man calling himself Dan Cooper bought an airline ticket from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington and soon boarded Northwest Orient Flight 305. The man was generally described by witnesses as a normal looking fellow, possibly early forties, and wearing a black raincoat over a dark business suit. The aircraft was a Boeing 727 and the flight was a normally uneventful half-hour trip. According to retired FBI agent Ralph Himmelsbach, the lead investigator on the case, in his book Norjak: The Investigation of D.B. Cooper (2009), shortly after takeoff, just before 3:00 PM, Cooper passed a note to the flight attendant, stating he had a bomb and the plane was being hijacked. Although frightened, she asked to see his bomb and he showed her his briefcase which was full of some odd red cylinders with a cylindrical battery that she assumed might have been sticks of dynamite. The stewardess then told their conversation and showed the note to the cabin crew, who dutifully relayed the information to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials in Seattle (Himmelsbach). Aircraft hijackings had been a rampant occurrence in the US over the previous few years, more than 300 since 1960. So many of them had been taken to Cuba, it became fodder for comedians’ jokes (“Take me to Havana”!). Therefore, federal officials took Cooper’s threats very seriously. His demands were relatively simple compared to some of the others, he wanted $200,000 and four working parachutes, further stipulating the money must be in $20 bills. That proved he was meticulous, as he told them the weight of 1000 bills would be 21 pounds! The aircraft was told to circle the Puget Sound while the items were gathered, some two hours. Upon arrival in Seattle, all occupants (except one stewardess and the flight crew) were released and the aircraft was refueled. Cooper stated his attentions to fly to Mexico City and the captain said the 727 would not make it all the way there. So the hijacker agreed to another refuel in Reno. Strangely calm, Cooper had an alcoholic drink while he waited on the refuel and his demands, even offering to pay for it! Finally, the FBI delivered the four civilian chutes and the money and the plane took back off at 7:46 PM. Ordering the pilots to fly no more than 10,000 feet with no cabin pressure, he locked the crew in their cockpit. Soon a light warned them the aft stairs had been lowered and the plane shifted, indicating there was movement, somewhere over the Lewis River, near Portland, just before 8:30. Yet, the captain was not taking chances and continued to Nevada. Upon arrival there, it was discovered Cooper had disappeared (Krajicek). Within 24 hours, the case had become a media sensation and “DB Cooper”, as he was known in the press, was never heard from again. Yet, he had become as legendary as John Dillinger and Robin Hood. So what actually happened in those cold woods that night so many years ago? Is he alive? If so, where is he? The last “sighting” was in 1980, when a few thousand dollars of the ransom was found near the Columbia River. Yet, no body or other physical evidence has ever been found. It seems likely that even if his remains were consumed by scavengers, clothing or other items would still have been found in the years since. For years, the FBI considered Cooper probably dead, although curiously enough they kept the file open. In 2009, due to the persistent efforts of one of their agents, the case was reopened and because the man had left his tie behind, DNA testing was done on it to determine if the hijacker’s identify was known. To date, the Bureau has not released the results of those tests (FBI). Yet, the list of suspects that have surfaced over the years has grown to include many characters, most with “evidence” brought forward by their relatives after they died. The fact that the 727 had operable aft stairs was a little known case outside the industry. The 1981 movie The Pursuit of DB Cooper brought up the interesting proposition that Cooper was a Vietnam vet, airborne Special Forces (Pursuit). That would help explain several things. Firstly, they are trained jumpers in all manners of climate. Secondly, they would also know about the stairs as part of their job involves hostage rescue. Yet, the FBI debunks this based upon the fact that he failed to check the reserve chute which was sewn shut. Therefore, a theory floating around today holds some credibility. Based upon both factual evidence and theory, the tie Cooper left behind holds some clues as to the man’s identity. New tests have revealed that titanium bits on the tie revealed that it came from a Boeing production line in the Seattle area; more specifically the Supersonic Transport (SST). But the project was cancelled in 1971! Hence, perhaps, the hijacker was a disgruntled employee recently laid off, who held a grudge against the entire aircraft industry (Sky). He would have certainly had inside information on the 727 stairs. Not only that, the niece of a man named Lynn D. Cooper has offered somewhat believable evidence that her uncle was in fact Dan Cooper, not the least of which was he was born in rural Oregon, not far from the jump site, and arrived at the family home in Sisters on Thanksgiving Day (the next day after the heist) looking disheveled and scratched. In conclusion, it is quite probable that DB Cooper got away with his crime since no body and very little money has been found. After all, if he was the one, Lynn D. Cooper never died until 1999, 28 years after the hijacking. Was his life peaceful? Maybe, but he probably looked over his shoulder constantly, afraid the FBI would figure out who he was and come knocking any moment. Works Cited Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “In Search of D.B. Cooper.” Web. May 1, 2012. < http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/march/dbcooper_031709>. Himmelsbach, Ralph et al. Norjak: The Investigation of D.B. Cooper.West Linn: Norjak Project, 1986. Print. Krajicek, David. “DB Cooper: The Legendary Daredevil.”,Web. May 1, 2012. < http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/scams/DB_Cooper/4.html>. “NEW TIP IN 40-YEAR OLD D.B. COOPER MYSTERY?” Sky Valley Chronicle, November 24, 2011. Web. May 1, 2012. < http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/BREAKING-NEWS/TANTALIZING- NEW-TIP-IN-40-YEAR-OLD-D-B-COOPER-MYSTERY-BR-Or-another-dead-end-833132>. The Pursuit of DB Cooper. Dir. Roger Spottiswoode, Perf. Robert Hayes, Robert Duvall, 1981, Universal, Film. Read More