D.B. Cooper

Associated With

Unknown individual using the name Dan Cooper - associated person or organisation not established

Defining Feature

A hijacker exchanged passengers for $200,000 and four parachutes before leaving the aircraft in flight

Status

Unresolved - Identity and fate unresolved; the FBI redirected active resources in July 2016

Overview

On 24 November 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper boarded Northwest Orient Flight 305.

He claimed to have a bomb, demanded money and parachutes, and held the flight until it landed in Seattle. He then released the passengers before the crew took off again.

During the next flight, he lowered the rear stairs and disappeared by parachute into the night. The aircraft landed safely, but his identity and fate remain unresolved.

Why It Mattered

The hijacking combined a daring escape with almost no confirmed account of what happened next.

Despite an enormous FBI investigation, the man was never identified; a tie, ticket and part of the ransom money remain fragments of a case whose central figure simply vanished.

Alias and Demands

• The one-way Portland-to-Seattle ticket was bought under the name Dan Cooper.
• The demand was four parachutes and $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills.

Escape from the Aircraft

• After the passengers were released, the aircraft departed Seattle with crew members still aboard.
• Cooper left the rear of the aircraft after 8 p.m. somewhere between Seattle and Reno.
• The pilots landed safely.

NORJAK Evidence

• The FBI examined the aircraft, tracked nationwide leads and considered more than 800 suspects by the fifth anniversary.
• The $5,800 found in 1980 matched the ransom serial numbers.
• The press-created initials “D.B.” were not the name used to buy the ticket.

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