Ready Reference Files

Cooper, D.B.

"D.B. Cooper" hijacked Northwest Airlines Flight 305 from Portland to Seattle on November 24, 1971, collecting $200,000 in ransom. At approximately 8:13 p.m., Cooper parachuted from the Boeing 727, which was flying at 10,000 feet, in the middle of a Thanksgiving eve storm; he had a 21-pound bag of used $20 bills tied around his waist. He was never found. His is still the only unsolved domestic skyjacking in U.S. history, despite the FBI's investigation of almost 10,000 potential suspects and maintaining a case file 60 volumes thick. The town of Ariel, Washington, once thought to be the drop zone, still holds an annual D.B. Cooper celebration commemorating the event.

Source: Tosaw, Richard T. D.B. Cooper: Dead or Alive?, Tosaw Publishing Co., 1984.
(This book includes a complete list of the serial numbers of the bills, all of which had been photocopied).
Also: "D.B. Cooper: Perfect crime or perfect folly?", Seattle Times, Nov. 17, 1996.

Verified by: GM, 4/98

Disclaimer:
While the Library has verified the information presented in these files in what it considers to be reliable and authoritative sources, it cannot take responsibility for nor guarantee the accuracy of the information presented.