Do you think D.B. Cooper could have hidden himself away on that 727 and faked the jump?

Question

How well did they search that aircraft after it landed in Reno?

I don't believe anyone actually saw him jump. He made the Flight crew and Flight attendant stay in the cockpit. The flight data recorder noted a pressure "bump" when the rear airstair door was open which is how they "guestimated" his bail out point.

Just a question that I've always wondered. Be kind of funny wouldn't it...Lots of places to hide up in that tail of a 727, accessable from inside.

A few years back a a friend and I were going to track down the 727 and see who owned it. We thought maybe since the money never showed up, it was still on the airplane. Turns out the airplane has been scrapped.

Read lots of stories on DB, even one where a guy confessed to his wife on his death bed, that he was DB. She told investigaters he never discussed his past, and once he took her on a trip to Seattle and was very familiur with the terrain, from the airplane. She also recalled when they first got married, she found a one way ticket from Portland Or to Seattle WA in some of his old papers.

After an investigation by the "retired" agent that had worked the case, he said it was a good as story as any, they were still clueless. They looked at photos of the deceased guy and had experts compare to what they had from the mid 70's. They didn't rule it out.

Ole DB left us with a great aviation story.

I always found it odd, that DB had to have the flight attendant open the rear door for him. Obviously, he had this planned and had sufficient knowledge to know that the door "could" be opened in flight. That part of the story never added up in my book.

I was a sky diver in the mid 70's, we talked about ole DB quite a bit.

Answer 1

Back in the Navy I was part of a class that evaluated potential aircraft crash investigators (I washed out). D.B. Cooper was a topic. We all agreed that no one inside the 727 could have seen a man jump, so everything else was up for speculation. Some interesting thoughts came up.

In my opinion, the best ideas we came up with was that his or an accomplice's check on luggage could have contained anything. We figured that he would have been a trained skydiver and would have wanted a 'chute that he himself would have packed, not trusting the four he received as part of the ransom.So we thought, since he jumped out near the Columbia River, he could have a raft, the four chutes, and the money, in a large duffel tethered to his leg. He lands on the river bank, opens the duffel, and inflates the raft. He now has the means to travel quickly and is able to bring everything with him, but he leaves just under 6 grand to be found on the river bank.

The area is key. Countless hunting trails and everyone has a 4X4, so setting up a pickup sight down river would have been no problem. Bury the items anywhere in those mountains and come back in a year or so to collect and dispose of the remaining evidence.

Side fact. The name he used was Dan Cooper. D.B. Cooper came from a suspect and the media got ahold of it. Can't remember where I heard that.

Yeah, someone gives me a best answer I tend to see what else they have asked. By the way, thank you. Sorry for your "Stud" problem.

Answer 2

Part of my last job was investigating aircraft accidents. I never even considered that as a possibility. Very Very interesting question. Now I have to look over the plans for a 727 and see if it is feasible. As far as the search goes, I would imagine it was very cursory as control of the aircraft had been returned to the pilot and it would have been very easy to assume that Cooper was no longer a part of the equation.

I really wish I could award more stars. As a hypothetical this is one of the best I have seen on this site and I have been here for awhile.

Thanks...

EDIT:

BTW, any investigator will tell you that an eyewitness is a very bad piece of evidence. They are wrong as often as they are right. Unfortunately juries tend to give an eyewitness a lot more weight than they deserve.

Answer 3

They took that plane apart looking for any thing they could find.

Answer 4

Uh, they saw him jump. He's now worm chow.

Answer 5

Interesting Question
Yes
I have no idea.

Answer 6

but people SAW him jump out...

Answer 7

Actually, I think he is HIDING under your turban...!