The Man Who Vanished Into Thin Air: The Unsolved Mystery of D.B. Cooper
On the afternoon of November 24, 1971, a man in a dark suit and sunglasses boarded a flight in Portland, Oregon. He ordered a bourbon and soda. He lit a cigarette. He looked like any other businessman.
But moments later, he handed a note to the flight attendant. It read: "I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being hijacked."
This was the beginning of the legend of D.B. Cooper (a media mistake; his ticket said Dan Cooper). It remains the only unsolved air piracy case in commercial aviation history. What happened next is like a movie script.
The Polite Hijacker
Cooper wasn't violent. He was calm, polite, and even paid for his drinks. He showed the attendant the bomb—red cylinders with wires—to prove he was serious. His demands were specific:
- $200,000 in "negotiable American currency" (worth about $1.3 million today).
- Four parachutes (two primary, two reserve).
- A fuel truck standing by in Seattle to refuel the plane.
When the plane landed in Seattle, the FBI gave him the money and parachutes. Cooper released all the passengers. He kept only the pilots and one flight attendant. He ordered them to fly to Mexico City, low and slow.
The Jump into the Unknown
Somewhere over the dense forests of Washington state, in the middle of a stormy night, Cooper did the unthinkable. He sent the flight attendant to the cockpit and told her to close the door.
At approximately 8:00 PM, a warning light flashed in the cockpit. The rear airstair apparatus had been lowered. The pilots felt a change in air pressure. D.B. Cooper, wearing a trench coat and loafers, strapped the money to his body and jumped into the freezing rain and pitch-black darkness.
Did He Survive?
The FBI launched one of the biggest manhunts in history. They searched the woods for weeks but found nothing. No body. No parachute. No money.
Then, in 1980, a young boy digging in the sand near the Columbia River found three bundles of rotting cash. The serial numbers matched the Cooper money. But the rest of the money—and the man—were never found.
The Theories
1. He Died: The FBI believes Cooper likely died in the jump. He wasn't an expert skydiver (he jumped into a 200 mph wind chill wearing loafers). The money found in the river suggests it might have washed downstream from a decomposing body.
2. He Lived: Fans of the mystery believe he survived and lived a quiet life. Several suspects have been named over the years, including military veterans and career criminals, but DNA evidence has never matched.
In 2016, the FBI officially closed the case. D.B. Cooper pulled off the perfect crime. Did he walk away rich, or is his skeleton still hidden somewhere in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest?