The only unsolved skyjacking case in history. The perpetrator leaps from a moving plane with $200,000 cash and is never seen again … Who is D B Cooper? And will he ever be caught? History’s Greatest Mysteries s4e14: Who is D B Cooper? History 2023
November 24th 1971, Portland International Airport. A man named Dan Cooper boards Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305 to Seattle. The flight takes off at 2:50 p.m. ibid.
‘He orders a Bourbon and soda and dons a pair of sunglasses.’ ibid. comment
Cooper opens his briefcase revealing a makeshift bomb. ibid.
Authories need to start somewhere. They start with his name. ibid.
Theory #1: He’s a crook named D B Cooper … Theory #2: He’s a repeat offender Floyd McCoy … Theory #3: He’s a cocaine courier Dick Briggs … Theory #4: He’s an experienced paratrooper Robert Rackshaw … Theory #5: He’s a spy Walter Reca. ibid.
‘The hijacker actually identified himself as Dan Cooper. [James] Long [journalist] put the hijacker’s name out as D B Cooper. And it’s immediately picked up by all the wire services.’ ibid. comment
The Bureau continuess its work for decades. ibid.
‘This guy [D B Cooper] pulled off a heist that nobody thought possible, no-one saw it coming, and nobody has created what he has done since.’ George Kourounis, science communicator, Conspiracies Decoded, DiscoveryPlus 2022
Who is the real D B Cooper? And what really happened on Flight 305? … The most well-known unsolved history in FBI history. True Crime Recaps: 3 Infamous Crimes, Youtube 33.25, 2021
He wanted $200,000 in $20 bills. He called it ‘negotiable American currency’. ibid.
An attempt to mislead investigators into thinking the drop-zone was some place it wasn’t? ibid.
Cooper became a legend after hijacking a plane and parachuting out of it with $200,000 cash. D B Cooper: Where Are You?! I: Take the Money and Jump, TV report, Netflix 2022
We have just passed the 50th anniversary of the D B Cooper case. And it’s still the only unsolved hijacking in the history of our time. ibid. researcher #1
November 24 1971: I noticed the guy sitting next to me had sunglasses on, and I thought that’s kind of different … ibid. passenger
And he said, ‘I want you to read the note’. It was printed: Miss, I have a Bomb in my briefcase. I want you to sit beside me. ibid. stewardess Florence
I saw a big battery with six dynamite sticks wrapped around the battery. ibid.
The greatest artist of them all was D B Cooper. ibid. reporter #1
In Portland he gave the name Dan Cooper to the ticket agents … Someone made a mistake. ibid.
He was a kind of a god. ibid.
We are arguably no closer to knowing who D B Cooper was. ibid. researcher #2
Army Warrant Officer Robert W Rackstraw of Santa Cruz has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross … At that moment I knew we had D B Cooper. ibid. newspaper article found by researcher #3
You’re sucked into the Cooper Vortex. D B Cooper: Where Are You?! II: Innocent Men Don’t Hide in Storage Bins, researcher #4
We had information that Rackstraw had associations with the CIA on Blacks Ops missions. ibid. Rackstraw’s Vietnam supervisor
Innocent men don’t hide in storage bins, Bob. ibid. researcher #5
To stand up against gravity. The system. D B Cooper: Where Are You?! III: Seeing Jesus in the Toast, researcher #1
Within six months everything changed … She [flight attendant] crushes the whole theory of the case. ibid. researcher #6
Did he get away with it? Did he die trying? ibid. CBS news
Tom Colbert opened up all the FBI data. ibid. researcher 2
The letters are not in any way material evidence. ibid.
Dan Cooper was the name of a French comic-book hero. ibid. researcher 1
It’s a little bit of a nerd family. D B Cooper: Where Are You?I IV: Cooperland, woman at convention
If he’s alive, he’s 95 years old. ibid. man
New Evidence: Was D B Cooper a Boeing employee? ibid. article
Tie clip tests … direct contact with Titanium. ibid.
Cascade Range, Washington: A half century ago a man now known as D B Cooper skyjacked a commercial airplane and then parachuted out with $200,000 in $20 bills in the dark in the rain with almost certainly no specific idea of where he would land. Hunting History with Steve Rinella s1e1: The Hunt for D B Cooper, History 2025
The FBI would interview literally thousands of suspects in the coming decade. ibid.
D B Cooper likely had military training and could have survived the jump. ibid.