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FBI Closes D.B. Cooper Investigation After 45 Years (oregonlive.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Federal Bureau of Investigation says it is no longer investigating the unsolved mystery of D.B. Cooper. The bureau said Tuesday that it's "exhaustively reviewed all credible leads" during its 45-year investigation and has redirected those resources to other priorities. The investigation was of a man calling himself Dan Cooper (the media mistakenly called him D.B. Cooper and it stuck) who hijacked a Boeing 727 headed for Seattle after boarding at Portland International Airport on November 24, 1971. In Seattle, he claimed he had an explosive device and demanded parachutes and $200,000 in ransom money. After releasing the 36 passengers from the plane and receiving four parachutes and $200,000 in cash, Cooper ordered several of the crew members who were kept on board to fly to Mexico City. Shortly after returning to the air, Cooper jumped from the back of the plane and landed somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. No trace of Cooper was found, but several bundles of cash were found in 1980. The FBI says it has conducted searches, collected all available evidence and interviewed all identifiable witnesses, but none have resulted in identifying the hijacker.
Today you get a golden parachute and a couple of millions in cash after releasing 3600 workers. Without having to hijack a plane.
Inflation, I guess.
This incident forced the FAA to issue a requirement to Boeing, Douglas and all US 727 and DC-9 operators to add a "Cooper vane" to the rear air stairs to prevent them being opened when the aircraft was moving.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
He also used a parachute to escape and had a lot of knowledge on how to actually open a commercial airlines doors IN FLIGHT.
From wikipedia:
The FBI task force believes that Cooper was a careful and shrewd planner. He demanded four parachutes to force the assumption that he might compel one or more hostages to jump with him, thus ensuring he would not be deliberately supplied with sabotaged equipment.[105] He chose a 727-100 aircraft because it was ideal for a bail-out escape, due not only to its aft airstair, but also the high, aftward placement of all three engines, which allowed a reasonably safe jump without risk of immediate incineration by jet exhaust. It had "single-point fueling" capability, a recent innovation that allowed all tanks to be refueled rapidly through a single fuel port. It also had the ability (unusual for a commercial jet airliner) to remain in slow, low-altitude flight without stalling; and Cooper knew how to control its air speed and altitude without entering the cockpit, where he could have been overpowered by the three pilots.[106] In addition, Cooper was familiar with important details, such as the appropriate flap setting of 15 degrees (which was unique to that aircraft), and the typical refueling time. He knew that the aft airstair could be lowered during flight—a fact never disclosed to civilian flight crews, since there was no situation on a passenger flight that would make it necessary—and that its operation, by a single switch in the rear of the cabin, could not be overridden from the cockpit.[107] He may even have known that the Central Intelligence Agency had been using 727s to drop agents and supplies behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War.[108]
What's the statute of limitations on the crimes the guy allegedly committed?
I appreciate the concise summary, since most times I've tried to look this up the articles just go on and on about it... "What was the big deal?" I would say as I read them, but this was the one question which they were apparently unwilling to answer. Turns out it wasn't a big deal, just a bunch of news fluff.
"Wasn't a big deal"??
A guy hijacks a plane under threat of an (apparent) bomb, takes over a million dollars in cash (in today's dollars) in exchange for hostages, and then parachutes out, and this "wasn't a big deal"?
Even if your standards of "big deal" are low enough that this wouldn't seem noteworthy, the case is also notable for the roughly 15 copycat hijackings it caused within the next year (also people extorting money on planes, requesting parachutes, etc.).
Ultimately, this case (and the copycats) led to the institution of universal luggage searching on flights, the first step down the slippery slope to voiding the 4th amendment as we've seen with the TSA in recent years. Arguably, these cursory searches (for bombs, other explosive devices, and major weapons) were necessary to prevent the nearly weekly hijackings that were going on. But if nothing else, this case is notable for a string of hijackings contributing to setting us on that path. (Note there were other high-profile incidents requesting passage to Cuba that also contributed to the new search policy, but weekly demands for million-dollar ransoms must have also made an impact.)
Also, obligatory xkcd.
Speaker Ryan has announced that the House of Representatives will be conducting hearings into whether or not Hillary Clinton is in fact D.B. Cooper.
You are welcome on my lawn.