Could someone please provided a synopsis? I can't view the link because I'm in Europe.
On November 24, 1971, a middle-aged man carrying a black briefcase approached the flight counter of
Northwest Orient Airlines at
Portland International Airport. He identified himself as "Dan Cooper" and used cash to purchase a one-way ticket on Flight 305, a 30-minute trip north to Seattle, Washington. Cooper boarded the aircraft, a Boeing 727-100, and took his seat and ordered a drink. Eyewitnesses described a man in his mid-40s, wearing a business suit with a black tie and white shirt.
Shortly after takeoff, Cooper handed a note to Florence Schaffner, a flight attendant. Schaffner, assuming the note contained a lonely businessman's phone number, dropped it unopened into her purse. Cooper leaned toward her and whispered, "Miss, you'd better look at that note. I have a bomb."
Schaffner did as requested, then quietly asked to see the bomb. Cooper opened his briefcase long enough for her to glimpse eight red cylinders. After closing the briefcase, he stated his demands: $200,000 in "negotiable American currency"; four parachutes (two primary and two reserve); and a fuel truck standing by in Seattle to refuel the aircraft upon arrival. Schaffner conveyed Cooper's instructions to the pilots in the cockpit; when she returned, Cooper was wearing dark sunglasses.
The captain, William A. Scott (1920–2001) contacted
Seattle air traffic control, which informed local and federal authorities. The 35 other passengers were told that their arrival in Seattle would be delayed because of a "minor mechanical difficulty". Northwest Orient's president authorized payment of the ransom, and ordered all employees to cooperate fully with the hijacker's demands. The aircraft circled for approximately two hours to allow Seattle police and the FBI sufficient time to assemble Cooper's parachutes and ransom money, and to mobilize emergency personnel.
FBI agents assembled the ransom money from several Seattle-area banks—10,000 , 20-dollar bills and made a photograph of each of them. Cooper rejected the military-issue parachutes offered by McChord AFB personnel, instead demanding civilian parachutes with manually operated ripcords.
Coopers demands were met and he released most of his hostages.
At approximately 7:40 p.m., the Boeing 727 took off with only Cooper, captain Scott, flight attendant Mucklow, first officer Rataczak, and flight engineer Harold E. Anderson on board.
Two
F-106 fighter aircraft from McChord Air Force Base followed behind the airliner, one above it and one below.
After takeoff, Cooper told flight attendant Mucklow to join the rest of the crew in the cockpit and remain there with the door closed. As she complied, Mucklow observed Cooper tying something, possibly the money bag, around his waist.
At approximately 8:00 p.m., a warning light flashed in the cockpit, indicating that the aft airstair apparatus had been activated. Rataczak offered assistance via the aircraft's intercom system, which Cooper refused. This was the last communication the crew had with him.
[ The crew soon noticed a subjective change of air pressure, indicating that the aft door was open.
At approximately 8:13 p.m., the aircraft's tail section sustained a sudden upward movement, large enough to require trimming to bring the plane back to level flight. At approximately 10:15 p.m., Scott and Rataczak landed the 727, with the aft airstair still deployed, at Reno airport. FBI agents, state troopers, sheriff's deputies, and Reno police surrounded the jet, as it had not yet been determined with certainty that Cooper was no longer aboard; but an armed search quickly confirmed his absence.
"Dan Cooper" or "D.B. Cooper" as he came to be called was never identified or captured. In 1980, a bundle of bills which were part of the ransom were discovered in a remote area near Vancouver, Washington.
LINK:
D. B. Cooper - Wikipedia
