D.B. Cooper, Media Epithet, Hijacker of Boing 727

How do you spend your evenings prior to thanksgiving?

I would think that most of us would be prepping for the big day or traveling to visit loved ones and family. However, on November 24th, 1971 (thanksgiving eve), DB Cooper also referred to as Dan Cooper had other plans.

A middle aged man approached the counter of North Western Orient Airlines at the Portland International Airport where he then purchased a ticket in cash ($20). Eye witnesses described his attire as business like incorporating a white shirt and black tie. He was also carrying with him a briefcase. His ticket was a one way ticket to Seattle. After taking his seat on a plane that was only a third full, he ordered himself a drink; bourbon and soda.

The flight departed at 2:50 pm PST. Within minutes after takeoff, he handed a note to Florence Schaffner who was the flight attendant. She at first did not think the note required immediate attention and set it aside in her purse. She believed that Cooper may have been trying to ‘hit’ on her. She stated that he leaned and whispered to her , “Miss, you’d better look at that note, I have a bomb.” It also asked that she sit next to him according to Schaffner. She saw eight red cylinders in his suitcase believed to be the bomb. Cooper demanded $200,000 in “negotiable American currency”, four parachutes and a fuel truck on standby in Seattle upon their arrival.

Miss Schaffner informed the Pilot (William A. Scott) who alerted air traffic control at the Seattle-Tacoma Aiport. The remaining 35 passengers were informed of a delay in their arrival to Seattle. The president of the airline, Donald Nyrop, ordered that the ransom be paid and that all employees cooperated fully with Cooper. The aircraft circled around for two hours as a means to provide law enforcement including the FBI, sufficient time to acquire everything that Cooper had demanded.

Another flight attendant, Tina Mucklow felt that Cooper was familiar with the area as he mentioned the surrounding air force base.

Schafnner described Cooper as being polite, calm and well spoken. Even Mucklow thought he was ‘nice’. He ordered a second drink, same as the first. He paid for his tab and attempted to tip Mucklow with the change he received. He even wanted meals for the flight crew once they made their stop in Seattle.

Once they were able to meet his demands, the plane made its descent and landed at the Seattle airport. Cooper made sure all window shades were closed and instructed the pilot on where to taxi the plane.

Once he received all that he demanded, he allowed all the passengers, Schaffner and senior flight attendant, Alice Hancock, to depart the aircraft. The plane was allowed to refuel and Cooper instructed the pilot on his flight plan. They would be heading towards Mexico City at very low speed. He wanted an unpressurized cabin, the landing gear be in the takeoff/landing position accompanied by lowered wing flaps. The aircraft did not have sufficient fuel to arrive in New Mexico and as a result they decided on Reno, Nevada instead.

Before take off, Cooper requested that the rear exit door remain open but was told that it would be lowered after takeoff as it was unsafe to do so before. Cooper denied any request to be interviewed and at 7:40 pm the aircraft took off with Cooper, the pilot Scott, flight attendant Mucklow, copilot Rataczak and flight engineer Harold E. Anderson. Two McChord Air force based aircrafts followed them.

After takeoff, Cooper instructed Mucklow to join the others in the cockpit and remain there with the door closed. She thought she saw him tie, what may have been the money bag, around his waist as she made her way to the cockpit. At 8pm, a warning light came on indicating that the air stair apparatus was activated. Cooper was offered assistance which he refused and that was essentially the last time they spoke with him. They noted a change in air pressure indicating that the aft door was open. Later at 10:15 pm, they landed at the Reno Airport. The plane was immediately searched to ensure that Cooper was indeed gone. He was.

They were uncertain as to when he left the aircraft as the military planes were flying above and below the boeing 727.

The investigation

Cooper left behind two parachutes and his tie. The FBI was able to recover over sixty finger prints from the aircraft. Based on the accounts of eye witnesses, multiple sketches were produced. There were a list of suspects that were questioned and it was difficult to determine a search area as they were unsure where he may have potentially landed after leaving the plane.

Initially, Coopers landing zone was thought to be a few miles south east of Ariel Washington. The whole area including the river and surrounding mountains were searched both on foot and by helicopter. They even searched local farmhouses, lake and reservoir but came up empty handed. Search continued into the Spring of 1972. This search was thought to be the most extensive and intensive search in the US history that did not lead to a significant discovery of any evidence pertaining to the hijacking case.

The following month, the FBI redirected their attention to a search for the ransom money. The serial numbers were distributed to a number of financial institutions and businesses such as casinos and law enforcement officials not only locally but globally. They even offered a reward maxing up to $25,000. Those serial numbers were then released to the public at a later time. They kept this offer until 1974 and there were no matches. The airline’s insurance company under orders from the Minnesota Supreme Court was ordered to pay the airline $180,000 towards their claim on the ransom money.

Later analysis revealed that the initial landing zone may have not been accurate. The new landing zone was estimated to be south east and in the drains of the Washougal River but yet no discoveries have been made. On July 8th 2016, the FBI suspended all active investigations and instead redirected its resources and man power towards more urgent matters.

The physical evidence

What they found on the plane?

1. A black clip-on tie

2. Mother-of-pearl tie clip

3. Eight filter-tipped Raleigh cigarette butts which were later lost

Other Evidence

1. Placard with instructions for lowering aft stairs. This was discovered in 1978 by a deer hunter east of Castle Rock, Washington.

2. 8-year-old Brian Ingram, while vacationing with his family on the Columbia River near Vancouver, Washington found three packets of the ransom cash in 1980. Some of the bills were badly broken down but some were still bound by rubber bands. FBI confirmed that the money discovered was indeed part of the ransom. The roundness of the bills led to the conclusion that they had not been buried but mainly deposited by the currents of the river. This led to many questions: Why were there ten bills missing from one packet? Why were the three packets still together after all this time? Why were these three packets separated from the rest of the money?

The discovery of this money led to many theories

1. Was the money found at another location by someone else or maybe even an animal?

2. Was the money carried to the river bank and later reburied there?

3. Could Cooper have dropped a few bundles when he parachuted off the air stair?

4. Did Cooper dump the money in the river after he landed?

5. Did Cooper bury the money in hopes of retrieving it later?

Those discovered bills were then divided equally between Ingram and Northwest Orient’s insurer while the FBI retained 14 bills as evidence. 15 of those bills were actually sold at a 2008 auction for $37,000.

Modern Day evaluation of evidence

The FBI made an announcement of a partial DNA profile that was obtained in 2007 but could not confirm that it did come from Cooper. All samples were retrieved from the tie.

An analysis of tiny particles on Cooper’s tie in 2011 revealed that he may have been a chemist or metallurgist even maybe an engineer or manager at a chemical manufacturing plant. In 2017, they found other metals such as cerium which was part of boeing’s transport developmental project which was suggestive of Cooper being a boeing employee.

A number of suspects have been questioned but they were never charged and cases against them were ultimately dismissed.

My thoughts

Based on the facts and other information gathered from this case, Cooper showed a distinct level of compassion. I do not believe that he had a bomb or that he had any intentions of hurting anyone. The question remains then why did he hijack the plane?

He rejected the military issued parachutes that they gave him and instead requested civilian parachutes from the FBI. I wonder if he was a pilot or was military trained. I even considered suicide but then what would be the purpose of the ransom money? My belief is that he was indeed skilled and knowledgeable about how to use parachutes and maybe thought using the military ones would lead to him being caught.

None of the pilots from the military planes following the boeing 727 aircraft saw when Cooper left the plane. Their failure to notice ,I believe, was due to their flight path; flying above and below the air craft. A better view could have been achieved if one was flying behind it.

It is interesting that the majority of the suspects for this case were army veterans. Out of all the suspects, there is one I believe could be Cooper. His name was Duane L. Weber.

Weber was a World War ll army veteran who was convicted of burglary and forgery. A few days prior to his death in 1995, he made a confession. He told his wife, “I am Dan Cooper”. This meant nothing to her at the time but its significance was later revealed by a friend months later when she was informed of the hijacking. She paid a visit to the local library to research DB Cooper. She located a book by Max Gunther and in there were words that she recognized as her husband’s handwriting.

She then recalled a nightmare that her husband once had where he talked in his sleep. He spoke about jumping from a plane and leaving his fingerprints on “aft stairs”. Weber also had a knee injury which he supposedly incurred when he jumped off the plane. He was a bourbon drinker and a chain smoker. They do mention his trip to Seattle and the Columbia River in 1979 where he decided to go on a walk by himself. Remember that four months later, Ingram discovered the ransom cash. I believe he wanted to get rid of any evidence connecting him to the crime. It’s clear that he did not use all of the ransom money even after all those years. Using it may have led to him being arrested. Again, my question remains. Why hijack the plane?

He was later eliminated as a suspect by the FBI because his finger prints did not match and insufficient evidence. How were they so sure that they got his finger prints in the first place? Maybe the finger prints they retrieved came from other passengers or other people who may have been in contact with this aircraft. There were more than 35 people on that plane and over sixty finger prints were found. Did they even try linking any of the fingerprints to the passengers, flight attendants or pilots? That would have helped the process of elimination.

They also mentioned that DNA samples from the tie also failed to match Weber. I honestly believe that there was a missed opportunity here. If we have not eliminated other people who we know were not the hijacker, but were in direct contact with the aircraft, then how could we be sure that the DNA is that of the hijacker? “It is very difficult to draw conclusions from these samples,” says FBI agent Fred Gutt in 2007. Why was it then used to eliminate a suspect? This I may never understand. It would have been great to collect DNA from the cigarette butts had it not been lost. This would have been the best way to confirm who the hijacker was!

Weber being a convicted burglar and an army veteran fits the profile of the hijacker. He would be knowledgeable about planes and how to properly use a parachute. He isn’t a murderer hence why no one was murdered but he did want money. His desire for a large sum of money made him commit the crime.

What do you think happened? Did he even survive the parachute jump?