D. B. Cooper: The Hijacker Who Vanished Into the Night

On Thanksgiving Eve in 1971, a man using the name Dan Cooper bought a one-way ticket from Portland to Seattle aboard Northwest Orient Flight 305. Shortly after takeoff, he told a flight attendant that he had a bomb and demanded $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills, four parachutes, and a fuel truck waiting in Seattle. After receiving the ransom and parachutes, he released all 36 passengers. Then he ordered the Boeing 727 back into the air. Somewhere between Seattle and Reno, during darkness and poor weather, he apparently lowered the aircraft’s rear stairway and disappeared with the money. The FBI investigation known as NORJAK examined hundreds of suspects, searched possible landing areas, recorded the ransom serial numbers, and studied the aircraft and physical evidence left behind. In 1980, $5,800 of the ransom was found buried in sand at Tena Bar along the Columbia River. The serial numbers matched, but the discovery raised a new question: how did the money get there? The identity and fate of the man called D. B. Cooper remain unknown. This podcast uses artificial intelligence in its research, writing, production, and narration. Episodes are editorially reviewed before publication. #TheUnsolvedFiles #UnsolvedCrimeAviationMysteryUnidentifiedSuspectU #DBCooper #DanCooper #NorthwestOrientFlight305