The mysterious figure of D.B. Cooper and the perplexing case that surrounds him have fascinated and baffled both investigators and the public for decades. 

It all began on the night of November 24, 1971. An individual who would later be famously dubbed “D.B. Cooper” boarded a Boeing 727 bound for Seattle, Washington, departing from Portland, Oregon. 

What followed was a heist involving a $200,000 ransom, a daring parachute jump, and a mystery that has endured for over half a century.

Background and Hijacking

On that fateful Thanksgiving eve, Northwest Orient Flight 305 took off from Portland International Airport in Oregon, bound for Seattle. Little did the 43 passengers and crew know that their journey would soon take an unexpected and terrifying turn. 

Somewhere over the rugged terrains of Washington state, the man who would be called D.B. Cooper handed a note to one of the flight attendants. The flight attendant opened the note and read it:

“Miss – I have a bomb in my briefcase and want you to sit by me.”

The hijacker initially told the flight attendant that his name was “Dan Cooper.”  But due to a reporter’s error, his name was mistakenly recorded as “D. B. Cooper,” and the rest is history.

The flight attendant sat with him as he dictated his demands to her. The flight attendant relayed the message to the cockpit, and the gravity of the situation began to sink in. Cooper had succeeded in hijacking the aircraft without raising any alarm amongs the passengers.

In the cockpit, the pilot relayed the demands to air traffic control. Cooper’s demands were specific. He wanted the pilot to land the plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

This is what he expected to be waiting for him: $200,000 in cash, four parachutes, and a fuel truck standing by to refuel the plane for his getaway.

The Ransom and Second Flight

When the plane landed in Seattle, Cooper remained onboard with the crew and passengers. The passengers still had no idea what was taking place. 

The plane was refueled. Once a courier delivered the money and the parachutes, Cooper released the 36 passengers but kept the crew. What Cooper did not know is that the FBI had carefully cataloged the serial numbers of each of the 10,000 bills.

By 7:40 PM Flight 305 was back in the air headed for Mexico City, Mexico with another refueling stop planned in Reno. During the flight, Cooper ordered the crew to fly the plane at a low altitude, slow speed, and with the landing gear down. 

The crew complied and then retreated to the cockpit to avoid being sucked out of the plane when Cooper opened the aft staircase. This was the last time the crew saw Cooper. 

Somewhere over the dense wilderness of southern Washington, a warning light flashed. This indicated that the aft staircase had been deployed. 

Upon the plane’s landing in Reno for refueling, both local law enforcement and the FBI conducted a thorough search. But D.B. Cooper was not onboard. It was assumed he had deployed his parachute and was hiding somewhere in the Washington wilderness.