There is one hijacking in American aviation history that has never been solved and remains one of the most fascinating mysteries in commercial aviation to this day. On the afternoon of November 24, 1971, a man using the name Dan Cooper purchased a one-way ticket for Flight 305 to Seattle at the Northwest Orient Airlines counter at Portland International Airport in Oregon.
The man, who was in his mid-40s, approximately 1.78 to 1.83 meters tall, with brown eyes, weighing between 77 and 82 kilograms, and wearing a dark suit with a white shirt, black tie with a mother-of-pearl tie pin, and loafers, took a seat in one of the rear rows of a Boeing 727 with his briefcase and ordered a bourbon and soda. The plane took off at exactly 2:50 p.m. and was scheduled to land in Seattle in 30 minutes. During takeoff, flight attendant Florence Schaffner had taken her emergency seat, where Dan Cooper unexpectedly handed her a note. Florence put it in her handbag, believing it contained the man’s phone number. Dan then leaned over to Florence again and asked her to read the note. The handwritten note contained the following message: “I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. This is a hijacking.” Schaffner complied with the man’s orders without resistance, but first wanted to see the bomb. Dan briefly opened his briefcase, which contained eight cylinders in two rows of four containers. The cylinders were connected to each other with red cables. The cables ran to a large battery. Dan Cooper then told Florence his demands, which she was to convey to the crew in the cockpit. Dan Cooper demanded $200,000 in small, unnumbered bills and four parachutes, as well as a kerosene truck to refuel the plane, which were to be provided upon landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Pilot William Scott contacted air traffic control at Seattle-Tacoma Airport, who notified the police and federal authorities. The airline’s president immediately agreed to pay the ransom and asked his employees to cooperate with the hijacker and fulfill his demands. While ground personnel worked feverishly to fulfill Cooper’s wishes, the remaining 36 passengers were told that a technical problem would force the plane to increase its fuel consumption and that they would therefore have to circle over Seattle and Puget Sound, the Pacific bay off Seattle. After more than three and a half hours, the plane finally landed. Dan Cooper asked pilot William Scott to maneuver the plane to a brightly lit area of the airfield. He was to turn off the lights in the cabin so that police snipers would not have a clear line of fire. Northwest Orient Airlines district manager Al Lee handed Dan Cooper the ransom money he had demanded in a backpack, along with the parachutes. Dan then released all the passengers and two crew members and ordered the pilots to refuel the plane for a flight to Mexico. While the plane was being refueled, Dan Cooper outlined his plan to the cockpit crew, consisting of pilot William Scott, co-pilot William Rataczak, flight engineer H.E. Anderson, and stewardess Tina Mucklow. According to Cooper, the plane was to head for Mexico City, with the pilot flying no higher than 3,000 meters at a speed of 100 knots. The landing gear was to remain in the takeoff and landing position, the flaps were to be lowered by 15 degrees, and the cabins were to remain unpressurized. The co-pilot objected that the fuel would only last for a maximum of 1,600 kilometers with this flight configuration, which is why the kidnapper decided to make a stopover in Reno. After refueling, the Boeing 727 took off at around 7:40 p.m. for its flight to Mexico City via Reno. At the same time, two F-106 fighter jets from the nearby MCChord Air Force Base were tracking the aircraft, outside Dan Cooper’s field of vision. In addition, a Lockheed T-33 from the National Guard took up the pursuit, but had to turn back at the Oregon-California border due to a lack of fuel. After the plane took off again, Cooper jumped out of the open rear stairway of the aircraft at around 8:13 p.m. during a thunderstorm, somewhere between Seattle and Reno. Dan Cooper disappeared without a trace. It seemed as if he had simply vanished into thin air. Despite intensive efforts and a 45-year investigation by the FBI, Cooper’s identity and whereabouts remain unknown. His motives remain unclear to this day, and there is not even any certainty as to whether he survived the risky jump. Initially, a D.B. Cooper from Portland was suspected, but he turned out to be innocent. However, a reporter had learned of this and published the name, which is why the hijacker is still known today by the pseudonym D.B. Cooper instead of Dan Cooper. One of the main suspects, Richard McCoy Jr., died a few years later in a shootout after attempting further hijackings. Over the years, numerous suspects have emerged, but none could be clearly identified as D.B. Cooper. In addition to Richard McCoy Jr., who traveled under a false name and hijacked another flight in 1972, there were others who were linked to the mysterious hijacker. Sheridan Peterson, a former Boeing employee who was familiar with the hijacked Boeing 727 and had experience in skydiving, seemed to fit the profile of the perpetrator perfectly at first glance. However, his physical characteristics did not match the descriptions. Another suspect was Robert Rackstraw, an experienced pilot and paratrooper whose resume made him appear suspicious. Authors Thomas J. Colbert and Tom Szollosi wrote the book “The Last Master Outlaw” in 2016, presenting a lot of evidence that identified Rackstraw as the legendary hijacker. However, his lawyer dismissed these claims as completely absurd. Kenneth Christiansen, a former Northwest Orient Airlines employee, also came under the investigators’ scrutiny. Christiansen had worked as a flight attendant and mechanic and was a paratrooper. After the hijacking, he bought a house, even though his salary was modest, which aroused additional suspicion. D.B. Cooper left a few sparse clues on the plane: cigarette butts, a hair on the headrest of his seat, and a clip-on tie that he had torn from his shirt collar before jumping. Unfortunately, investigators were unable to obtain any usable fingerprints from these items. Although it was initially assumed that Cooper was a combat-seasoned parachutist, later analysis showed that he was probably not an expert. It seemed unlikely that an experienced jumper would voluntarily jump out of an airplane on a pitch-black night, in the rain and strong headwinds, wearing loafers and a trench coat. Interest in the case was rekindled in 1980 when a boy dug up a bundle of decaying $20 bills worth a total of $5,800 on the banks of the Columbia River in Washington. The serial numbers matched those Cooper had received as ransom money. This is the only material evidence found from the hijacking. Years later, the boy was allowed to keep some of the money he found and sold 15 of the damaged bills at auction in 2008 for over $37,000. After the hijacking, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered that so-called “Cooper flaps” be installed on all Boeing 727s. These safety devices prevent anyone from opening the rear stairs during flight, thereby preventing similar incidents. The identity and fate of D.B. Cooper remain unsolved to this day, and the FBI officially closed its case in 2016. The enigmatic hijacker has left a lasting legacy in pop culture and in the minds of conspiracy theorists and amateur detectives. The case continues to inspire, which is why numerous books, films, and documentaries have been made about it. The spectacular hijacking keeps the world in suspense as the search for answers continues. Whether Cooper survived or not, and why he committed this dramatic act, may never be fully clarified. What remains is the story of a bold man who, on the day before Thanksgiving, staged one of the most impressive and mysterious aviation hijackings in history, creating a mystery that will continue to fascinate people for a long time to come.