D.B. Cooper: The man who highjacked a plane and got away with it (supposedly)
50 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Hamushka11;18907804]Was "Without a Paddle" based on this?[/QUOTE]
It's about people looking for D.B. Coopers ransom money.
[sp]In the film they find his body but D.B broke his legs on landing and burned his ransom money to keep warm for a few more hours.[/sp]
Numerous experts on the case have professed their belief that Cooper and McCoy were the same person. And seeing the similarities between the two I'd be inclined to agree with them.
Fucking wow.
He's a bit of an idiot to be fair.
That is awesome!
Fascinating story. I love things like this.
Once incarcerated at the Federal penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, McCoy used his access to the prison's dental office in order to fashion a fake handgun out of dental paste. He and a crew of convicts escaped on August 10, 1974 by commandeering a garbage truck and crashing it through the prison's main gate.
What a badass.
[QUOTE=Mr.2007;18904663][img]http://img2.allposters.com/images/153/924235.jpg[/img]
Anyone else?[/QUOTE]
That movie was so unfunny..
Some interesting facts about the landing equipment they supplied him with..
[quote=Renewed FBI interest and new evidence]
On November 1, 2007, the FBI released detailed information concerning some of the evidence in their possession, which they had not revealed to the public before.[53] The FBI displayed Cooper's 1971 plane ticket from Portland to Seattle, which cost $18.52. It also revealed that he requested four parachutes—two main back chutes and two reserve chest chutes. [b]Authorities inadvertently supplied Cooper with a "dummy" reserve chute—an unusable parachute that is sewn shut for classroom demonstration. The dummy chute was not left behind on the plane, and some theorize Cooper did not realize it was not functional.[53][/b] This piece of information had been revealed in a 1979 episode of TV documentary series In Search of.... The other reserve parachute, which was a functional parachute, was popped open and the shrouds were cut and supposedly used to secure the money bag.
On December 31, 2007, the FBI issued a press release online containing never before seen photos and fact sheets in an attempt to trigger memories or useful information regarding Cooper's identity. In the fact sheets, the FBI withdrew its previous theory that Cooper was either an experienced skydiver or paratrooper.[54] [b]While it was initially believed that Cooper must have had training to have performed such a feat, later analysis of the chain of events led the FBI to reevaluate this claim. Investigators said that no experienced paratrooper or skydiver would attempt a jump during a rainstorm with no light source.[54] Investigators also believe that, even if Cooper was in a hurry to escape, an experienced jumper or paratrooper would have stopped to inspect his chutes.[/b][7]
[/quote]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper#Renewed_FBI_interest_and_new_evidence[/url]
[QUOTE=NO ONE;18893749]Yeah, that was brought up by the FBI at one point. Even if he landed in the water safely, it would have still been deathly cold and he could have died from hypothermia quite easily.[/QUOTE]
Or his chute could have become tangled.
[editline]09:21PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Mumblecrust;18914801]That movie was so unfunny..[/QUOTE]
I loved that film.
[QUOTE=OnDemand;18917372]Some interesting facts about the landing equipment they supplied him with..
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper#Renewed_FBI_interest_and_new_evidence[/url][/QUOTE]
I REALLY don't know about that one....I mean again, no body or parachutes where EVER found. I mean they fricken search radius was I thing a good [b]10 square miles[/b]. But, some good chuck of that area was the river/lake he landed near (I think). If he did die in the river, his body could of obviously of been heavily buried or something being in the water for so long. Though, no matter what, there is still no clear link on how that money found later on got there. There are great theories, but none of them have evidence to completely confirm them.
On the Nat Geo documentary, the FBI did have some volunteers help with investigating (the FBI made it an open case where anyone can volunteer to help out), and one volunteer was a geologist. He found out that (I might screw up explaining this :blush:) the sediment/sand surrounding the money indicated that the money was buried much later....like ranging a couple years. Which brings up one of the many questions; if the money did get there by river, why would it take so long?
Wouldn't opening the staircase in the back cause air pressure inside the plane to change?
I heard about this guy a while ago. He seems pretty cool.
Cooper is one of those criminals that mostly everyone likes and supports. Kind of like John Dillinger.
[QUOTE=UberDave;18927180]Cooper is one of those criminals that mostly everyone likes and supports. Kind of like John Dillinger.[/QUOTE]
I'm doing a research paper on Edgar J. Hoover and that the killing of John Dillinger was unjustified. :downs:
Yeah, I'm a history buff :buddy:
That sounds incredibly bad ass
The FBI does not want anyone to think Cooper got away with it, imagine the copycats!
That's why all their statements amount to "Nah, he died, because no experienced skydiver would attempt to jump like that. The only theory that makes sense is that only someone who knew NOTHING about skydiving would jump out of a passenger jet." Yeah, right.
If he was experienced, he would have spotted immediately which parachutes had been tampered with. What he cleverly did is leave enough room for the FBI to think he used the wrong chute, therefore they wouldn't search for him that hard. It makes it easier for him to get away.
That's assuming you even believe there was anything wrong with the parachutes in the first place. In those days the FBI wasn't exactly known for being honest about anything that didn't serve their purposes.
Yes, that's right, [b]11 years later[/b], a small amount of the money was found buried in the sand about 2 miles from the projected area Cooper landed.
[/QUOTE]
"Buried" in your above, is a relative term. "Covered over/buried" might be more appropriate.
Records from the week of the find and subsequenet excavation aren't available. In addition Brian
Ingram was just a child so his memory is spotty. Of the witnesses who were interviewed or left
some account of the find, some speak of money fragments at 6 inches, one report even states
3 feet, but the Fazios (who owned the property) and others state there was a fragment field
of money fragments stretching out on the surface, in and around where the 2 1/2 bundles ($5800)
was pulled out. No signs of cloth or a bag were found in the find area, or any other Cooper related evidence either, so far as is known. The manner of deposit and the time the money was on the bar
is still undetermined however, the FBI's postion is the monmey had recently arrived sometime after
1974 and probably as late as 1979, or even sooner right before the find. The person in charge of the
Tina Bar excavation was Dr. Leonard Palmer: Leonard A. Palmer, emeritus associate professor of geology, ... Len lived at Port Ludlow, Washington, since retiring from Portland State University in 1991 after ... consultations to and a member of the Oregon State Board of Geologist ...
geology.pdx.edu/files/Emeriti/Palmer
I will try and answer any questions I can.
Thanks,
G.
[editline]12:00AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=erazor;18897065]Didn't he accidentaly use a sewn up demonstration parachute?[/QUOTE]
You are referring to the front reserve pack he apparently took with him, or threw out.
The chute he put on and bailed with was an NB6 Round with a 28ft canopy instead of 26ft canopy,
which packer Earl Cossey had packed for himself and gave to the hiway patrol to be taken to SEA-TAC.
This left two chutes which were found when the plane landed at Reno. One of these, the other front
pack, Cooper had stripped and cut shroud lines from with his pocket knife. He used the cut shroud lines
to tie the money bag around his waste (stewardess Tina Mucklow reported). Cooper originally asked
for 4 chutes, a knapsack, and the money. The knapsack was never delivered but Cooper did not
ask again or mention it further. He was more interested in getting back in the air and escaping...
He began dawning one of the chutes (the NB6 back pack) almost immediately after they were delivered
and he had checked the money bag. When he checked the money bag he began exclaiming surprised
the money had actually been delivered ... began jumping up and down excited ... and offered a large
stack of money to stewardess Mucklow who said 'I cant take tips'.
[editline]12:06AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=cheeseman52;18898787]I think he survived the jump and just accidentally dropped some money on the way down. I don't know why you would ask for a ransom in bills though. They can track the serial numbers and catch you[/QUOTE]
That is one theory. If this happened then he must drop in an area where someof the money
in in-tact bundles still with rubber bands on, makes it way to Tina Bar, to be found in 1980.
An approproiate drop zone and air or land or water route for the money to Tina Bar, must then
be established. That has not been specified to date because concrete evidence to support that
theory does not (yet) exist. People have tried to find such evidence but as of tonight ... its still
does not exist (so faras I know!).
[editline]12:18AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;18899642]Here's what I believe(I always found this case fascinating):
He planned to jump obviously. This means he would have known about the weather. This is a guy who was planning to sky dive out of a plane NO ONE sky dives out of- he knew what he was doing.
I think upon landing he then left a small portion of the money in a direction that, if found, would lead investigators away from him. Remember, it would have taken him a while to make it back to civilization, he needed time to make it to his safehouse. This is the money that was found years later.
Once he made it to his rendevous point, he had fresh supplies(ie clothes, ID, passport, etc) and transportation to deal with the money. I think he already had arrangements to get it out of the country, where he could safely launder it. He took his profit and escaped.
I think in the years since then the money has been recovered(after it was put back in circulation), but the government/insurance industry/airline have no interest in letting people know he got away with it. So everyone pretends like the money never turned up and he must have died.[/QUOTE]
Thats one theory also - a good one. Here is another piece of hard evidence for you to consider:
Flight #305 an afternoon commute flight PDS to SEA had only been added at the end of
August 1971. So, while Cooper may have been thinking/planning an airline hijack, his choice
of flight #305 is time limited. That last-of-the day flight was opportunistic. Very opportunistic in
my opinion. He picked a flight and a time that was vulnerable. Had he been waiting for just such
a flight? How did he find that flight or was this all serendipity? He chose a flight which was unique
is a number of ways compared to other flights in most areas of the USA, in the northwestern quad.
Ive wondered a lot about this aspect of the case... maybe someone here has some good ideas?
Lets me just say flight #305 had originated at Washington DC, flew north then over to Montana, then
to PDX, and was headed for its last run of the day to SEA and then holdover for Thanksgiving. Dan Cooper
bought his ticket and got on at PDX.
[editline]12:21AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Jund;18903752]Doesn't it seem weird that he would leave his tie? Like "oh man I just stole $200,000 maybe I should take off my tie and leave it here."[/QUOTE]
it isnt 100% sure it is his tie, but it probably is. Extensive forensic testing has been done on the tie -
56 prints were pulled off the magazine he was reading; some of these prints match no known person.
[editline]12:36AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=FFStudios;18904292]Haha, you best give me tools for this. I just so happen to have a book with a four page story on DB Cooper.
[b]Possible Suspect #1[/b]
On April 7th, 1972, four months after Cooper's successful hijacking, another hijacker stole a plane in Denver, using the same M.O. as D.B. Cooper. The Denver flight was also a 727 with a rear stairway, from which the hijacker made his getaway by parachute. A tip led police to Richard McCoy Jr., a man with an unusual profile: married with two children, a former Sunday school teacher, a law enforcement major at Brigham Young University, a former Green Beret helicopter pilot with service in Vietname, and an avid skydiver. When FBI agents arrested McCoy two days later they found a jump-suit and duffel bag containing half a million dollars.
[b]Possible Suspect #2[/b]
In August 2000, a Florida widow told US News and World Report that her husband was D.B. Cooper. Jo Weber claimed that shortly before his death in 1995, her husband Duane told her, "I'm Dan Cooper." Later she remembered he'd talked in his sleep about jumping out of an airplane. She checked into his background and discovered he'd spent time in prison near Portland, Oregon, then found an old Northwest Airlines ticked stub from the Seattle-Tacoma airport among his papers. She found a book about D.B. Cooper in the local library-it had notations in the margins matching her husbands handwriting.
[b]Possible Suspect #3[/b]
Elsie Rodgers of Cozad, Nebraska, often told her family about the time she was hiking near the Columbia River in Washington in the 1970s and found a human head. They never really believed her until, while going through her things shortly after her death in 2000, they found a hatbox in her attic, with a human skull in it. Could that have been the remains of a D.B. Cooper? And if so, what happened to the ransom money? Thirty years later, his fate remains a mystery.[/QUOTE]
all not Cooper. Absolute 100% certainty. Based on a ton of investigative evidence and dna evidence.
So, you can close those books and sleep easy. The skull was an indian skull. Weber not in this lifetime
or any other either (doesnt even meet the basic forensics)! McCoy is interesting but was not Cooper.
McCoy failed extensive dna testing in spite of several credible FBI agents thinking he was Cooper.
At interview McCoy refused to talk about the Cooper case except to gloat saying 'I wont talk about
it one way or the other' then fell into deep depression. The man's life was destroyed by his hijack
stunt but he was a very skilled individual with a solid credible military background, and a faith-based
life. McCoy may have succumed to social-personal problems. However, a tie clasp alleged to be identical to the one found on Flight #305 was 'allegedly' also found in a desser at McCoy's home? Agent Calame wrote a book about McCoy if you havent read it -
[editline]12:58AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=FunnyBunny;18909077]Once incarcerated at the Federal penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, McCoy used his access to the prison's dental office in order to fashion a fake handgun out of dental paste. He and a crew of convicts escaped on August 10, 1974 by commandeering a garbage truck and crashing it through the prison's main gate.
What a badass.[/QUOTE]
Yes. Sad. A complete turnaround in McCoy's life (and personality?). Here are some other facts!
McCoy was killed 4 months after escaping (with others), found at a house at Virginia Beach VA.
McCoy drew down on one of the agents so the agent had no choice but to fire, killing McCoy.
Guess who moves to Virginia Beach next (several years later)? Duane and Jo Weber. Yes the same
Webers. Jo Weber admits 'yes, Duane drove me by McCoy's house and told me 'That's where
Richard McCoy was killed' '. Years later Jo Weber then claims Duane Weber was DB Cooper saying:
'Duane felt sorry and guilty that HE had caused McCoy's death, since Duane was DB Cooper, and
McCoy had copied him'! Jo Weber claims McCoy was a copy cat and copied her husband Duane who
she esays was DB Cooper. Somebody is copying somebody !!!
In no interview did Richard McCoy ever mention or claim he knew a Duane Weber or had ever heard
of a Duane Weber and no association between the two has ever been found. The physical contrast
between Weber and Cooper, and Weber vs McCoy could not be more different. Weber was a sick
indivdual, both physically and mentally.
Richard McCoy did tell one of his friends he had followed the Cooper hijacking and could have
pulled that off himself. That casual remark made its way back to law enforecement. McCoy may
have developed the idea from the Cooper hijacking thinking he could do the hijacking and never
be found, except that he left a trail of evidence ten miles long including his finger prints which were
on file with the military. McCoy had served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam was active duty in the Utah
Ntl Guard at the time of his hijacking. He made it home to fly his helo in a Guard assignment the
same afternoon - had a sprained ankle. McCoy had deep financial problems ...
[editline]01:08AM[/editline]
On the Nat Geo documentary, the FBI did have some volunteers help with investigating (the FBI made it an open case where anyone can volunteer to help out), and one volunteer was a geologist. He found out that (I might screw up explaining this :blush:) the sediment/sand surrounding the money indicated that the money was buried much later....like ranging a couple years. Which brings up one of the many questions; if the money did get there by river, why would it take so long?[/QUOTE]
What volunteer geologist would that be? Can you tell me?
Could you be confusing this with geologist Leonard Palmer who did the original investigation, and
concluded the money had arrived late at Tina Bar, around 1978-79?
The volunteer science panel referred to by NatGeo consisted of: an archaeological paleontologist
(Tom Kaye), a materials engineer, a student chemist, a science illustrator, and unmentioned others
who have expertise, who helped from time to time.
If there was another geoloigist I dont know about I would like to know about that.
Can you help me?
Thanks,
G.
[editline]01:12AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Wafflur;18925108]Wouldn't opening the staircase in the back cause air pressure inside the plane to change?[/QUOTE]
Yes and it did, especially when the stair assembly slammed back up (shut) after Cooper bailed at
about 8:10-8:14... at least that is the standing theory. A change in sabin pressure was noted
by the flight engineer and recorded...
Take a look at Sluggo's DB Cooper website: [url]http://n467us.com/[/url]
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