D.B. Cooper Pt. 1
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Due to the nature of this story, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of threats of violence and flight hijacking. Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen.

On a stormy afternoon in November 1971, flight attendant Florence Schaffner walked down the aisle of Northwest Orient Flight 305, greeting her passengers. The nonstop flight to Seattle was about to take off, but as Florence neared the back of the plane, the man in seat 18C signaled for her attention. He had a note he wanted to give her. Smiling, Florence put the note in her pocket.

She assumed it was his phone number or some other flirty message. It wouldn't be the first time a flight attendant received an unsolicited note from a passenger. But as she returned to her seat, she noticed the man still staring at her, as if to say, "Look at the note."

As the plane taxied down the runway, she pulled out the note and unfolded it. In neat, tidy handwriting, it read, "Miss, I have a bomb here, and I would like you to sit by me." She did. At first, she didn't believe him, but when he opened his briefcase and told her to take a look, inside were six red sticks of what looked like dynamite, surrounded by a tangle of wires.

Within an hour, the mysterious man in the back row had control of the plane. Within days, he was a folk hero. And to this day, authorities still don't know who he was or what happened to him after he jumped out of the plane mid-flight.

Welcome to Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify podcast. I'm Carter Roy. You can find us here every Wednesday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at The Conspiracy Pod, and we would love to hear from you. So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Stay with us.

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On the afternoon of November 24th, 1971, the day before Thanksgiving, a gentleman approached the Northwest Orient Airlines counter at Portland International Airport. He wanted to purchase a one-way ticket to Seattle. He looked like he was in his mid-40s, dressed in a dark suit, a black clip-on tie, a white shirt, and sunglasses. He carried a briefcase and a raincoat.

He signed his name, Dan Cooper, and paid $20 for the ticket. Cooper was reportedly the last passenger to board the Boeing 727. He slowly made his way down the aisle and sat in the last row in coach next to the window, seemingly intentionally sitting as far away as he could from the other 36 passengers. Easy enough to do. The plane was only one-third full.

Florence Schaffner, the flight attendant Cooper handed the note to, had learned about hijackings in her training, but it was hardly something she thought about in her day-to-day career. Now, the only thing she could think about was whether or not she'd ever see her family again. The man with the explosives seemed to be laser-focused. He handed Schaffner another note, this time with a list of demands.

Another flight attendant, 22-year-old Tina Mucklow, watched the interaction from the galley behind them. But she couldn't see everything that was going on, so she assumed it was just a passenger requesting assistance. Presumably a low-stakes situation. But when Schaffner turned around, Mucklow saw the panic in her eyes and walked over. That's when Schaffner handed her the notes. Mucklow knew she needed to tell the cockpit crew.

Going to the phone in the rear of the plane, Moklo softly read the notes to the men on the flight deck. Cooper's demands were simple. When they arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, he wanted $200,000, four skydiving parachutes, and a truck to refuel the plane immediately upon its landing. He expected all this to be organized midair by 5 p.m.

The crew were in disbelief. They told Mucklow they'd need visual confirmation of the demands. Mucklow hung up and walked over to Schaffner and Cooper's row. Mucklow, knowing that her colleague was terrified, explained to Cooper that Florence needed to go to the cockpit to show the crew the notes. Cooper, seemingly hesitant at first, soon agreed to let her go, and Schaffner took both notes to the front of the plane.

Captain William Scott read the notes while Schaffner, her voice shaking, said the bomb looked real. Scott told her to remain in the cockpit. It was critical that the rest of the passengers remain unaware of the situation. The last thing they needed was panic, and who knew what might happen with a spooked hijacker and a bomb on board. Then, Captain Scott radioed air traffic control.

There was a hijacker on board flight 305. ATC told Scott to continue the flight as normal. They would update him with more specific instructions after contacting the police and FBI. The radio fell silent. There was nothing left to do but proceed as if everything was normal. But it was impossible not to think about the bomb in the plane's last row.

A few minutes later, the quiet was broken by another call from flight attendant Mucklow. Cooper wanted the notes back. As reluctant as the captain was, he couldn't risk upsetting the man with the bomb. He returned the notes to Schaffner and sent her back. She passed a third flight attendant, Alice Hancock, who noted that Schaffner calmly made her way down the aisle. By this point, Hancock knew what was going on,

Mucklow had told her, but the air of calm meant in-flight drinks and snacks as usual. Hancock was just thankful that she didn't have to deal with him personally. That was left to Schaffner and Mucklow. As the plane continued on its way to Seattle, Mucklow was doing her best to stay composed. Sitting next to Cooper in the back row, he seemed polite and amiable, and she wanted to make sure he stayed that way.

She made small talk, trying to pick up on any useful intel about his background. Through a break in the clouds, Cooper pointed out the city of Tacoma below. Mucklow took that to mean he was a Washington native, or that he'd been on this flight a number of times. But as they approached the airport, Cooper appeared more nervous. Mucklow prayed that the FBI had a plan to save her and the 42 souls aboard,

Even Dan Cooper. The FBI did have a plan, but they needed more time. As the plane approached Seattle, ATC told Captain Scott to circle the airport to buy them some time. He made an announcement: "There was a minor mechanical problem. Everything was fine. They simply needed to burn off some excess fuel to lighten the plane and ensure a safe landing."

Meanwhile, on the ground, the FBI worked quickly with Seattle banks to gather the $200,000 in cash. By the way, that's around $1.5 million today. Cooper had requested the bills be all in 20s, meaning 10,000 bills needed to be collected and have their serial numbers documented in the hopes that the bills could eventually be traced.

Around 5:00 p.m., the FBI radioed to tell the crew that they were just waiting on four parachutes to arrive from nearby McCord Air Force Base. The crew relayed to Cooper that everything was going according to plan, sending Schaffner up and down the aisle under the guise of normal flight attendant duties that kept Cooper up to date on every detail. But this latest information proved to be a problem. His agreeable demeanor turned cold.

He didn't want parachutes from the Air Force. He'd requested ones meant for skydiving. So, the FBI quickly procured more parachutes from Seattle Sky Sports. Captain Scott had been circling for over an hour when he received word that it was time to land. Flight 305 touched down at SeaTac International over two hours after they were scheduled to land.

An announcement was made requesting all passengers remain seated. Flight attendant Mucklow was the only person allowed off the plane. She found an unmarked car waiting outside. A courier sent by the FBI handed her a heavy bag. He assured her the money was inside. She cautiously walked back up the steps and directly into the rear of the plane where she showed the money to Cooper.

Satisfied, he gave permission for the passengers to deplane. It was only when the passengers saw the refueling truck and law enforcement waiting outside that they realized something serious had gone on during their trip. Cooper also allowed two of the flight attendants, Florence Schaffner and Alice Hancock, to leave. The three men in the cockpit, pilot, co-pilot, and flight engineer, were to remain on board along with Mucklow.

The parachutes were brought onto the plane while it refueled, and the four-person crew waited. But their trip with Cooper wasn't over yet.

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By 6:30 p.m. on November 24th, 1971, Flight 305 had landed safely in Seattle. Its hijacker, Dan Cooper, received his $200,000 ransom, but he had yet to release all of his hostages. Though he'd freed the passengers, Cooper didn't allow flight attendant Tina Mucklow or the flight crew, led by Captain William Scott, to leave.

Cooper told Mucklow to write down his latest demands. They were as follows: "Going to Mexico City, or any place in Mexico, non-stop, gear down, flaps up, don't go over 10,000 feet, all cabin lights out, do not land again in the United States for fuel or any other reason, no one behind the first class section.

He had one more request. He wanted them to take off with the rear stairway extended. The 727 was an unusual airliner, equipped with a retractable air stair in the rear of the plane, pointing backwards from the fuselage. After the instructions were delivered, Captain Scott relayed this information to the FAA and law enforcement, who were watching intently across the tarmac.

Then Scott got on the intercom and told Cooper he foresaw two problems. First, it would be impossible for the plane to take off with the stairway down. Second, they couldn't make it to Mexico nonstop. The plane's fuel tank wasn't large enough. After some discussion, Cooper finally agreed they could stop in Reno, Nevada and Yuma, Arizona to refuel.

And out of necessity, the plane was allowed to take off with its rear door closed and landing gear retracted once it became airborne. At 7:37 p.m., Mucklow looked out at the stormy sky and raised the steps. The Boeing taxied down the runway and took off. Though Cooper was still in control, the FBI was closely monitoring the situation.

They scrambled two F-106 Delta Dart jets from nearby McCord Air Force Base to follow the plane. A cargo plane full of parachutists was also called in, in case Cooper jumped. Then finally, there was a helicopter that had been circling the airport, carrying the FBI agent in charge of the situation, Ralph Himmelsbach. But almost immediately, there were problems.

Cooper requested the plane fly at under 200 miles per hour, well below its normal cruising speed. Even flying that slowly, Himmelsbach's helicopter was unable to keep up and was forced to turn back. Meanwhile, the approaching storm made it difficult for pilots inside of the cargo plane to see the exit points of the 727.

Once the helicopter returned to its base, Agent Himmelsbach maintained contact with the ATC. There was no way he was going to let a terrorist get away with $200,000. Inside the 727, Cooper instructed Mucklow to go to the cockpit and stay there. When she looked back, she saw him tying the money bag around his waist with a parachute cord. About five minutes passed.

Mucklow and the crew heard Cooper trying to open the rear stairway. Then, silence. It was another 20 minutes before they heard anything else from Cooper. A warning light came on. The stairs had been fully extended. Captain Scott asked over the intercom if everything was okay and if Cooper needed anything. Cooper told them he didn't.

That was the last communication anyone has ever had with the man who called himself Dan Cooper. Between 8:10 and 8:15 p.m., the crew noticed the back of the plane dip as if someone had jumped. The stairs momentarily snapped shut before dropping open again. When the plane finally landed in Reno after 10 p.m., the rear stairway scraped along the tarmac

Captain Scott called out to Cooper over the intercom, but received no reply. The captain then left the cockpit and searched the plane. One of the parachutes had been draped over the seats. A few of its cords were cut off, but Dan Cooper had disappeared, along with two parachutes and the $200,000. He left a black clip-on tie and eight Raleigh cigarette butts in his seat's ashtray.

Scott informed the FBI that Cooper was gone. Within minutes of the plane parking, they boarded and scoured the aircraft for any signs of the hijacker. FBI agents also swarmed the airport in Reno, but Cooper was nowhere to be found. There was no way Cooper had escaped in Reno. That meant Cooper jumped off the rear stairway. The FBI immediately began to speculate about whether or not he'd survived.

A Boeing official, John Wheeler, told the FBI that a successful parachute jump could be safely done from the rear stairs of any of their 727 planes. At 10,000 feet above the ground, the air temperature would have been cold - Himmelsbach estimated that it was -7 degrees Fahrenheit - with wind chill that could have felt like -70 degrees.

The freezing rain would have felt like icy bullets, but it was doable. Cooper could have jumped and survived the elements. Captain Scott told the FBI about the dip in the plane around 8:13 p.m. Using this information, as well as flight and wind speeds, they determined that Cooper jumped in southern Washington in or near the tiny town of Ariel.

But unfortunately, because of the storm, any search missions would have to wait until first light, and that would give Cooper a head start. In the meantime, lead FBI investigator Ralph Himmelsbach focused his attention on getting as much information as possible. He set up interviews with the flight crew, including the two flight attendants who spent the most time with Cooper, Florence Schaffner and Tina Mucklow.

Officials released a composite sketch of the man's face that would soon be seen around the nation. Reporters across the Pacific Northwest quickly heard about the hijacking, and while the FBI was interviewing the crew, the media descended on the airport in Reno, eager to get a scoop. The FBI wasn't talking, but apparently, one reporter happened to overhear an FBI agent mention the name D.B. Cooper.

It didn't take long for the name to spread like wildfire. The following morning, Thanksgiving, stories ran across the country about the bizarre hijacking. All mentioned that a man named D.B. Cooper was the prime suspect. Local police and FBI agents descended on southern Washington. They began a 15-mile radius search of the foothills around the towns of Woodland and Ariel, Washington.

It was their best guess for where Cooper might have landed. Lead investigator Himmelsbach continued to search by plane. He flew a low-grid pattern over the forest, looking for a parachute, a fire, anything. But the terrain was dense and the weather was still bad. Gifford Pinchot National Forest covered 1.4 million acres. The landscape, crowded by lakes, rivers, and mountains, was such a long head start

Cooper could be anywhere. On November 26th, two days after the hijacking, more than 100 men stretched out over a five-mile line and were combing the area in search of the parachute. Helicopters were used for a while, but lingering fog and low-lying clouds eventually grounded them and frustrated Agent Himmelsbach. Investigators canvassed door to door in the small towns nearby

but no one had seen or heard anything. It was as if Cooper jumped off the plane and vanished into thin air. Local police chief Joe May told reporters, "Either he's hung up in the branches of a tree somewhere and we won't find him until the next deer season, or he's home watching us on television, laughing his fool head off." Each passing day meant Cooper could be farther and farther away.

But just as the search was proving fruitless, a curious letter arrived at the Reno Evening Gazette. It was postmarked three days after the hijacking from Oakdale, California. The message was pasted together from cut-out magazine letters. It read, "Attention! Thanks for the hospitality. Was in a rut. D. B. Cooper." A few days later, a second letter arrived.

this time at the Portland Oregonian. Using a similar construction, it read, Am alive and well in hometown. P.O. The system that beat the system. D.B. Cooper. The FBI probably assumed they were pranks. After all, the media had turned D.B. Cooper into something of a celebrity. The letters could have come from anyone looking to grab a little time in the national spotlight. But on December 13th,

Four handwritten copies of the same letter arrived in the mailboxes of the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times. And the FBI treated these new letters much differently.

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Then, on December 11th, 1971, four prominent newspapers received letters from someone claiming to be the notorious D.B. Cooper. The letters stated that the author, presumably Cooper, was no modern-day Robin Hood and that he only had a short time to live. He said, I'm not a boasting man. I left no fingerprints. I wore a toupee. I wore putty makeup.

If true, the letter meant that the composite drawing the media had been circulating wasn't an accurate representation of their suspect, and the FBI had even less information than they thought. According to certain accounts, the FBI ordered the newspapers to turn over their copies of the letter and demanded they be kept from the public, which means they believed them to be authentic. But the request for secrecy came too late.

Each paper had already published the letter. There was no turning back. There was a reason the press was so quick with the story. D.B. Cooper sold papers. The public clamored for any details from the case. The legend only continued to grow. The FBI had no way to track where the letters came from. No fingerprints were left behind.

After spending four months and thousands of man hours on the case, both on the ground and in the air, the FBI had nothing to show for it. As a last-ditch effort, Agent Himmelsbach sent a reported 200 soldiers from the Fort Lewis Army Base to Ariel, Washington. Despite this significant effort, by April, their search ended without any results.

Because they hadn't found a body or any evidence that Cooper was dead, they assumed he was still at large. The FBI continued to pursue the case, but over time devoted fewer resources to Cooper's capture. They moved more slowly. They re-interviewed witnesses from the plane and retraced their steps across Washington's forests and through Ariel. Himmelsbach waited for months to see if Cooper would spend any of the $200,000.

If Cooper used any of the bills, the serial numbers would set off alerts that would be sent to the FBI. But as the months turned into years, none of the money ever showed up in their system. Over the course of the investigation, Himmelsbach and the FBI considered at least 800 suspects. One of them was Ted E. Mayfield, a pilot from Oregon. Those who knew Mayfield were convinced he was D.B. Cooper.

Six people are said to have called into the FBI saying that he matched the description of Cooper and that Mayfield knew how slow the plane needed to fly in order to safely jump. He was also an avid skydiver. The FBI found Mayfield had a rock solid alibi. He had actually been on the phone with the FBI the night of the hijacking. They called him for advice about skydiving shoots.

Other suspects were located all over the country. Either they matched a profile or might have been in the area at the time. And it wasn't rare for a family to call in about a long lost relative. It seemed no theory was too unlikely for the FBI. They looked into a former US paratrooper and a man who would himself prove to be a future hijacker. But none of the leads panned out.

For Himmelsbach, it was exhausting and demoralizing work. As interest within the bureau waned, the budget shrank. There were other, more pressing cases that needed the funding. But in February 1980, over eight years after the hijacking, they finally found their first new lead. Eight-year-old Brian Ingram was spending the day with his family at Tina Bar Beach along the Columbia River.

His father, Harold, worked on building a small campfire, but Brian stopped him and quickly swept aside more of the dirt. His eyes widened as he stared down in the sand. Three tattered bundles of $20 bills were embedded in the shallow layer of silt. It was thousands of dollars. So Brian's father contacted law enforcement, who contacted the FBI.

When lead investigator Himmelsbach received the news, he was ecstatic. Agents descended on the beach. In total, they found $5,800. The bills were in poor condition, but the serial numbers were still legible. And the authorities were eager to compare them to the list of numbers from the D.B. Cooper hijacking. As luck would have it, they were a match.

Himmelsbach hoped there'd be more clues and ordered his team to search the surrounding area. Maybe Cooper's parachute was nearby or even the remains of the hijacker himself. But no other evidence was located. And given that the money had been exposed to the elements for over eight years, it was impossible to lift any fingerprints. Even stranger,

Tina Barr was at least 40 miles south of where the FBI believed Cooper should have landed. It was possible that the money floated down to the Columbia from the Lewis River. The Lewis flowed past the town of Ariel, where the FBI initially thought Cooper could have landed. Maybe the money came loose in Cooper's descent, or maybe he buried it there himself. Still, the newest lead ended in a dead end like all others before.

So the FBI packed up and left. Eventually, the money was split up between the Ingram family and the FBI's evidence locker, stored next to the clip-on tie. Not long after Ralph Himmelsbach retired, he was no closer to learning Cooper's true identity than he was nine years ago. The sum total of the leads he had included descriptions that could have been based on a disguise, disintegrating money, and a parachute left on the plane.

Cooper's cigarette butts, once it was determined that no forensic evidence could be taken from them, were thrown away a month after the hijacking. Himmelsbach left the file on his desk, hoping the next investigator would have better luck. But they wouldn't. On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted. Landslides clogged rivers and streams. Ash fell over 22,000 square miles of land, including...

Ariel Washington. Any evidence that might have existed was likely buried, flooded, or destroyed. The FBI was left with what they originally found. As the years passed, the case stayed open but only out of tradition. Even if agents were actually assigned, none of them seemed to devote any time to it. And then finally, in 2016, the FBI suspended their investigation.

The only evidence that could prompt them to reopen the case would either be the discovery of more money or the two missing parachutes. But even though the FBI considered the case impossible to solve, some in the public sphere think otherwise. Internet sleuths are on the case, wondering over 50 years later, who is D.B. Cooper? Some think that of the over 800 suspects that were investigated...

the FBI may have actually spoken to the real D.B. Cooper and let him slip through their fingers. Today, the FBI still has a list of their most compelling suspects, and next week, we'll consider three of the most fitting. First among them is Kenneth Christensen, a skilled paratrooper who fit Cooper's description, but more importantly, he worked for Northwest Orient, the airline that was hijacked.

Then there's Richard McCorry. He'd hijacked a plane just a few months after Cooper and was caught. Some believed he was back for another crime. Others suspected he was just a copycat. Lastly, Robert Rackstraw, another former US Army paratrooper, fits the bill. He was rumored to be involved in clandestine missions during his time spent in the Vietnam War and may have worked with the CIA.

Next week, we'll take a closer look at these suspects. Despite dozens of files, extensive searches, and plenty of leads, D.B. Cooper's case remains the only unsolved instance of air piracy in the United States. But looking at this evidence again, some of it may suggest the FBI knew the real identity of D.B. Cooper and covered it up.

Thank you for listening to Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify podcast. We're here with a new episode every Wednesday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at The Conspiracy Pod, and we would love to hear from you. So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts or email us at conspiracystoriesatspotify.com.

For more information on D.B. Cooper, amongst the many sources we used, we found the D.B. Cooper Project from True Inc. magazine extremely helpful to our research. Until next time, remember, the truth isn't always the best story, and the official story isn't always the truth.

This episode was written by Teresa Watson with writing assistance by Maggie Admire. Fact-checked by Claire Cronin, research by Brian Petras, and sound design by Kelly Gary. Our head of programming is Julian Boisreau. Our head of production is Nick Johnson, and Spencer Howard is our post-production supervisor. I'm your host, Carter Roy.

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