Episode 41: The Mystery of the DB Cooper Highjacking

What would you do if you were on an airplane, and you found out one of the passengers had a bomb? This question probably goes through the minds of flight crews on every airline around the world. This nightmare became a reality for Northwest Airlines Flight 305 in Portland, OR on November 24, 1971. After handing a note to a flight attendant, the hijacker demanded money, parachutes and a flight to Mexico. After the plane refueled and took off, the hijacker jumped out of the plane somewhere between Seattle WA and Reno, NV…NEVER to be seen again. This infamous hijacker became known as DB Cooper. Nearly 54 years after the incident, there are still no answers to his whereabouts, his identity, or if he even survived the jump. The exact moment he jumped could not be pinpointed as no one saw. Numerous ground searches were conducted through various areas of potential landing but nothing was found. No money, no parachute and no body. Hundreds of suspects came around but none panned out, something definitive would usually rule them out. Join us as we take a dive into the mystery of DB Cooper. Who do you think he was??

 

Sources:

“D.B. Cooper Hijacking” on FBI.gov  (https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/db-cooper-hijacking)

“D.B. Cooper Plane Ticket” on FBI.gov (https://www.fbi.gov/history/artifacts/d-b-cooper-plane-ticket)

“$200,000 for Jet Hijacker” by Lloyd Boles in The Oakland Tribune on November 25, 1971

“Who Was the Mysterious Hijacker D.B. Cooper?” by Ella Morton on History. Com on May 8, 2023 (https://www.history.com/news/who-was-d-b-cooper)

”The Daring Heist of D.B. Cooper” by Washington Our Home on November 1, 2021 (https://washingtonourhome.com/the-daring-heist-of-d-b-cooper/)

“Skyjacker gets $200,000, Disappears with Parachute” in The Memphis Press-Scimitar on November 24, 1971

“$5,800 of airplane hijacker D. B. Cooper’s ransom money is found near the Columbia River on February 10, 1980.” by Casey McNerthney on History Link on August 6, 2024 (https://www.historylink.org/file/23059)

“Suspects” on The DB Cooper Forum (https://website.thedbcooperforum.com/Suspects/)

“Hijacker with Bomb Vanishes During Flight after $200,000 Payoff” in The Commercial Appeal on November 25, 1971

“D.B. Cooper skyjacking: Boy, 8, unearths ransom notes” by Michele Orzano on Coin World on July 21, 2014 (https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/1971-skyjacking-cash-ransom-found-by-eight-year-old-in-1980.html)

“Were These Taunting Letters Really from D.B. Cooper, the Mysterious 1971 Hijacker?” by Lesley Kennedy on History.com on November 2, 2020 (https://www.history.com/news/db-cooper-case-fbi-letters)

“D.B. Cooper, Comic Strip aviator Dan Cooper and the F-100” by MB Barrett on Super Sabre Society in 2022 (https://supersabresociety.com/d-b-cooper-comic-strip-aviator-dan-cooper-and-the-f-100/)

“Richard Floyd McCoy, Jr.” on FBI.gov (https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/richard-floyd-mccoy-jr)

“Eight FBI D.B. Cooper Sketches” on Citizen Sleuths (https://citizensleuths.com/cooperimages-sp-260985789.html)  

Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack, Season 1, Episode 5 on Amazon Prime

“Cracking the D.B. Cooper Case” on Expedition Unknown, Season 4, Episode 7 on Discovery+

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper