50 years ago marks the anniversary of the disappearance of D.B Cooper. On November 24th 1971, D.B Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 while mid air. During the flight he leapt out of the plane with a bag of stolen money and a parachute. He was never seen again.

The story made headlines when it originally happened, taking the pacific north west by storm, causing some to even search the area where he might have gone missing.

97.1 KXRX logo
Get our free mobile app

However D.B Cooper and his treasure was never found, however it did prompt books, comics, tv shows and even Hollywood movies. But still leaving everyone puzzled to what happened to D.B Cooper.

A mysterious man who identified as "Dan Cooper" bored a commercial flight leaving Portland International Airport and heading towards Seattle. Little did anyone know "Dan Cooper" was about to hijack their flight.

Once in the air Dan Cooper handed a flight attendant a small folded up note, thinking it was a poor attempt to hit on her, she put the not in her purse. Dan Cooper leaned forward and stated, "You really should look at that, I have a bomb." After fishing the note out she realized that was indeed what it said. She asked for proof of said bomb and Dan abridged, opening his suit case to reveal 8 red cylinders, wires, a battery and insulation.

He asked the flight attendant to sit beside him and began to list of his demands.Dan wanted, $200,000 dollars, four parachutes, and a fuel truck at Sea-Tac air port to refuel the plane to make his getaway. The flight attendant made her way to the cockpit and  informed the captain of the situation.

The pilot contacted Sea-Tac airport and informed them of what was happening in the air, it took a little bit of time but the FBI agents accumulated the money from multiple banks in Seattle to meet the mad mans demands.

Dan Cooper was said to be extremely polite and almost kind to the crew and passengers, when asked if he had a grudge against the airline he simply stated, "No I don't have a grudge against your airline, miss. I just have a grudge." He even joked with some of the passengers and pointed out what was below them. "That looks like Tacoma there." He even stated the army base was about a 25 minute drive from Tacoma, at the time.

After learning all of his demands were met and waiting for him the plane landed at Sea-Tac Airport, D.B Cooper released every hostage on the plane including most of the flight attendants, leaving only himself the captains and the original flight attendant on board. An FBI agent asked to meet with Dan on the plane face to face but was shot down. After refueling the plane left Sea-Tac Airport at 7:40 Pm

Not long after take off Dan inquired on how to open the aircraft doors, after the attendant showed him, he asked her to join the captains in the cockpit. At approximately 8pm a red alarm flashed inside the cockpit alerting the captains the aircraft door had been opened, they experience a significant pressure drop and had to destabilize the plane before they were able to land.

The airplane landed at the Reno Airport at 10:15 pm, the airliner door still opened and the inflated stair case still intact. After a search took place on the plane they confirmed D.B Cooper was no where to be found. The FBI would lead a thorough investigation searching for any sign of Dan Cooper or the money he acquired.

After many interviews and being able to pinpoint the exact location where D.B Cooper would have landed, there was still no sign of the perpetrator. For. years they searched to find any sign of the money being used or any sightings of D.B Cooper.

Still The Fbi had no luck in finding any trace of D.B Cooper, until 1980. A family was visiting  the Columbia River when eight year old Brian Ingram came upon some money washed up on the shore. The money retrieved was torn and tattered but were turned into local authorities that had struck a match with some of the ransom money given to D.B Cooper. However the scent ran cold and D.B Cooper was never found.

In 2016 the Fbi closed the case and declared that it was unsolved, to this day no one truly knows what happened to the mysterious man, all that's known is he departed the airplane somewhere over Southwest Washington and is assumed to not have survived the jump. Some think he did survive and left the country, however the world may never truly know his fate.

Some believe that other parties such as the captains or the flight attendant may have played a role in the heist but after years of questioning all of them were cleared. Did D.B Cooper work alone? Did he survive the jump? We may never know unless another discovery is made and the case is reopened.

LOOK: 100 years of American military history

CHECK IT OUT: The Best Movie Character Names of the 1980s

 

More From 97.1 KXRX