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Today in 1971, Northwest Airlines flight 305 began a scheduled run between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, an easy flight by airline standards. One man on board the aircraft, however, had a different flight plan in mind. Thus begins the story of D.B. Cooper, perhaps the best known airline hijacker of the 20th century. His identity and his ultimate fate remain a mystery more than 38 years later.
On the day before Thanksgiving in 1971, a man identifying himself as Dan Cooper bought an airline ticket at the Northwest Airlines counter in Portland, Oregon. He was dressed in a dark suit covered by a raincoat and had short hair, the uniform of the day for business travelers. In those days of nearly non-existent airline security, Cooper boarded his flight with a briefcase that was not inspected. He checked no baggage.
While the aircraft was still on the ground in Portland, Cooper slipped a note to a passing stewardess. Thinking it contained the passenger’s phone number and request for a date, the woman slipped the note into her pocket and continued down the aisle. After the flight was in the air, Cooper stopped the same stewardess and told her calmly, “Miss, you’d better have a look at that note. I have a bomb.” The note reiterated Cooper’s statement, informing the flight crew that a hijacking was underway. Captain William Scott, the plane’s pilot, radioed the air traffic control center at Seattle-Tacoma airport and informed them of the situation. Scott was told to cooperate with the hijacker until the FBI and state law enforcement could be notified. In the meantime, one of the flight attendants talked Cooper into showing her the inside of the briefcase, which appeared to her to contain a real bomb.
Cooper’s demands were simple: he wanted $200,000 in cash and four parachutes, two mains and two emergency chutes which are worn over the chest. He also wanted the plane to be refueled in Seattle. The request for so many chutes made officials wonder if Cooper had an accomplice on the plane or if he was planning on taking a hostage with him. Regardless, the money was gathered and the parachutes were borrowed from a Seattle parachute school. Once informed that his demands were being met Cooper allowed Captain Scott to land the aircraft at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. He then allowed the passengers to leave the aircraft in exchange for the parachutes and money; some of them did not realize the plane had been hijacked until they were in the airport terminal. As the plane took off again, only four people were on board: Captain Scott, his co-pilot, the flight attendant to whom Cooper had slipped his note and Cooper himself.
Once airborne, Cooper ordered the flight crew to fly towards the Mexican border at a speed not exceeding 170 knots or about 195 miles an hour. He also ordered them to stay under 10,000 feet, keep the landing gear down and raise the 727’s flaps by 15 degrees. This last demand later became important in the search for Cooper, as it indicated the hijacker probably had more than a passing familiarity with civilian jet aircraft.
The stewardess remained in the main cabin per Cooper’s order. Once the airliner was at altitude, he asked her to show him how to open the plane’s aft stairway. At that time, the Boeing 727 was the only civilian aircraft in commercial service that had a stairway at its tail end. The stewardess showed Cooper, but then told him that once opened, the stairway could not be raised again while in flight as it was only lowered by gravity and not a hydraulic mechanism. The hijacker then ordered the young woman into the cockpit with the pilot and co-pilot. Around 8:13PM local time, the crew reported feeling a “bump” from the rear of the aircraft. Visibility was poor that night, which worked in Cooper’s favor. Following the Northwest Airlines plane were two Air Force F-106 fighters, which stayed far enough behind the 727 so as to not attract attention. Between the fog and the darkness, they did not see anyone leave from the aft stairway at 8:13. D.B. Cooper had jumped into the night and into the fog of history, making a clean getaway.
At 11PM that night, Northwest Airlines flight 305 landed safely in Reno, Nevada, dragging her aft stairway along the tarmac. FBI agents and local police boarded the plane and searched for anything Cooper may have left behind. In the end, they found fingerprints which may or may not have been his, two of the four parachutes and the hijacker’s tie and tie clip. The area thought to be Cooper’s landing site was searched for eighteen days but nothing was found. In April, 1972, 400 soldiers from Fort Lewis, Washington spent six weeks scouring the same area on foot to no avail. The FBI questioned a man named Dan B. Cooper, but he was nowhere near the area on the night of the hijacking and did not fit the composite sketch made by the FBI. The name D.B. Cooper, however, stuck with several media sources and became the name of the hijacker, despite the fact he gave his name as Dan and never used a middle name.
More than 1,000 people have been suspected of being Dan Cooper over the past 36 years. A copycat hijacker, Richard McCoy, Jr., was suspected of being Cooper because his method of taking over the plane and his demands were so similar. However, the FBI eliminated him as a suspect when it was revealed he was in California on the day of the hijacking. Kenneth Christiansen, John List and Duane Weber remain strong suspects, made more so by the dozens of books and television shows written about the incident. In recent years, several people have come forward claiming that one of their deceased relatives was Cooper. All have evidence to support their claims, but no “smoking gun” has ever been found. The case remains open with the FBI.
The simple truth is that we will probably never know who hijacked that Northwest Airlines flight in November, 1971. In fact, there is no evidence that the perpetrator even survived his jump from the aircraft. No matter his fate, D.B. Cooper will remain a recognizable name in the annals of American crime for generations to come.
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Sunday, November 22, 2009
That Terrible Day in Dallas, November 22, 1963
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Today in 1963, US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas, Texas. The shock, anger, and sadness which the American people felt had not been seen since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Not until the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, would the nation come together again in such a fashion.
JFK, as the President was known, was born into a family whose patriarch had political aspirations of the highest order. When the oldest son in the family, Joe Jr., was killed during the Second World War, the senior Kennedy’s hopes and dreams fell to the next son in line, John Fitzgerald. John had been a sickly child but compensated for it by keeping up with his peers in sports and after-hours activities. During the Second World War, he commanded Torpedo Boat PT-109. On August 2nd, 1943, Kennedy lost his command when the comparatively small wooden boat was hit and sunk by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy acted bravely and saw to the welfare of his men; he swam several miles with one of the injured crewman in tow. This incident, along with problems found during childhood, conspired to cause Kennedy severe back pain for the rest of his life.
After the war, Kennedy won a seat in the US House of Representatives representing Massachusetts’ 11th Congressional District. He held that office until 1952, when he won a Senate seat which he held until the Presidential race in 1960. That November, Kennedy won one of the closest elections in US history, barely beating his Republican opponent, Richard Nixon. He was the 2nd youngest president to hold the office and was the first and thus far only Catholic to serve in the Oval Office.
While Kennedy was certainly popular, he had his fair share of enemies. By today’s standards, JFK would be considered a moderate conservative. His dealings with the Soviet Union were tough, but not tough enough to please the far right in the nation. He worked for desegregation and civil rights legislation, a move which alienated him from some Southerners. If he was going to be re-elected in 1964, Kennedy had to mend many fences.
The trip to Dallas in November, 1963, was an attempt to bridge the gap with Texas Democrats, who were split on important issues of the day and fighting amongst themselves. It was also a fund-raising opportunity. Kennedy had lost Dallas County in the 1960 election and was acutely aware that he was not popular there with the majority of voters. U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson was met with a near-riot when he visited Dallas the previous month and advised Kennedy not to go. But the Dallas Police Department promised increased security, so the trip was on.
Air Force One arrived at Dallas’ Love field 20 minutes before noon on the 22nd. The President’s itinerary called for his motorcade to travel through downtown and Dealey Plaza on their way to the Dallas Business and Trade Mart where the President was scheduled to have lunch with local business and political leaders.
As the motorcade made a left-hand turn onto Elm Street, over two dozen people recorded the moment with still and motion-picture cameras. The most famous of these recordings was filmed by a man named Abraham Zapruder, a Russian immigrant who owned a clothing manufacturing company located diagonally from Dealey Plaza. The Zapruder film today represents the most complete record of what happened next.
Witness testimony concerning traumatic events is not always accurate, but the general consensus is that the first of three shots was fired from the sixth floor of the Book Depository building at 12:30PM. The building was located on Elm Street, so the shooter had a downward facing shot into the President’s limousine. The first shot missed the President, but the second one hit both him and Texas Governor John Connelly, and the third hit Kennedy in the side of the head, causing the fatal wound. Realizing what had happened in only six seconds, the Presidential motorcade moved out at high speed towards Parkland Hospital several miles away.
The nation first learned of the shooting barely ten minutes after it occurred. Walter Cronkite with CBS News read an audio only statement which only mentioned what was then known: the President had been seriously wounded. It was 2PM Eastern Standard Time (1PM in Dallas) before the CBS News cameras in Cronkite’s New York studio were ready. Approximately 40 minutes later, the by-then veteran reporter told the nation that John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States was dead. All three television networks cancelled their regular programming for four days to cover the assassination without commercial breaks, something that would not happen again until the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
While the fate of the President played out at Parkland Hospital, Dallas Police were hunting for the shooter or shooters. Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who would later be charged with the crime, was briefly detained by police in the second floor lunchroom of the Book Depository, but was released. He left the building by its front door less than five minutes after the shooting. Several minutes later, the Book Depository was sealed off after witnesses claimed they saw a shooter on one of the upper floors. Police quickly found an Italian-made rifle on the sixth floor, leaning against a wall near a window.
At 1:15PM local time, about 45 minutes after the shooting, Oswald shot and killed a Dallas police officer less than one mile from the room he rented. This act was seen by at least 13 people and led to Oswald being tracked to a nearby movie theater, where he was apprehended after a brief struggle with police. He was taken to the Dallas jail.
While Oswald was being transported to jail, another incident worthy of mention was occurring at Parkland Hospital. Since the President had been shot in Texas, state law dictated that his autopsy must take place within the boundaries of the state. Since federal law at that time did not show shooting the President to be a crime, the only charges leveled against Oswald would be those pressed by the state of Texas. This added strength to the state’s position that the autopsy must occur in Dallas. However, the Secret Service detachment with the President’s body was under orders to return to Air Force One for an immediate flight back to Washington. In a hallway of the hospital, Dallas police officers and Secret Service agents brandished their service revolvers as they argued about what to do. In the midst of this tumult was Jacqueline Kennedy, who never left the President’s side. Eventually, the Secret Service won the debate and the coffin containing the President’s body was rushed to Love Field and placed aboard Air Force One. Before the plane left the tarmac, Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.
An industry has grown around various theories related to the Kennedy assassination. What I present here are facts that are considered official, although details about the shooting and the disposition of the three bullets remain in doubt. The Warren Commission, the first body to investigate the assassination, concluded that Oswald acted alone, thereby giving an official stamp to the “lone gunman” theory. Oswald could not be questioned, as he had been killed by club owner Jack Ruby the Sunday after the assassination as he was escorted through the parking garage of the Dallas Police Department. This shooting caused some conspiracy theorists to believe the murder was a Mafia hit job, since Ruby had those kinds of connections. Others place the blame on the Soviets, Southern separatists, and even the CIA.
In the late 1970’s, the House Select Committee on Assassinations, known as the HSCA, returned to the issue of what really happened on that day in Dallas. It concluded that the FBI did a poor job of investigating the shooting, including improper handling of important evidence. The Secret Service was called out for not providing enough protection given the nature of politics in Dallas. While the HSCA did not directly question the authenticity of the lone gunman theory, it shed enough light on the issue to put the true nature of events in question for many Americans. In 2003, ABC News conducted a poll in which 70% of respondents stated they believe the assassination was part of a plot, not the act of a lone shooter. While most of the documents related to that day have been released to the public, a small number will not be available until 2017. Will they answer the question with any finality? Probably not, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Today in 1963, US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas, Texas. The shock, anger, and sadness which the American people felt had not been seen since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Not until the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, would the nation come together again in such a fashion.
JFK, as the President was known, was born into a family whose patriarch had political aspirations of the highest order. When the oldest son in the family, Joe Jr., was killed during the Second World War, the senior Kennedy’s hopes and dreams fell to the next son in line, John Fitzgerald. John had been a sickly child but compensated for it by keeping up with his peers in sports and after-hours activities. During the Second World War, he commanded Torpedo Boat PT-109. On August 2nd, 1943, Kennedy lost his command when the comparatively small wooden boat was hit and sunk by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy acted bravely and saw to the welfare of his men; he swam several miles with one of the injured crewman in tow. This incident, along with problems found during childhood, conspired to cause Kennedy severe back pain for the rest of his life.
After the war, Kennedy won a seat in the US House of Representatives representing Massachusetts’ 11th Congressional District. He held that office until 1952, when he won a Senate seat which he held until the Presidential race in 1960. That November, Kennedy won one of the closest elections in US history, barely beating his Republican opponent, Richard Nixon. He was the 2nd youngest president to hold the office and was the first and thus far only Catholic to serve in the Oval Office.
While Kennedy was certainly popular, he had his fair share of enemies. By today’s standards, JFK would be considered a moderate conservative. His dealings with the Soviet Union were tough, but not tough enough to please the far right in the nation. He worked for desegregation and civil rights legislation, a move which alienated him from some Southerners. If he was going to be re-elected in 1964, Kennedy had to mend many fences.
The trip to Dallas in November, 1963, was an attempt to bridge the gap with Texas Democrats, who were split on important issues of the day and fighting amongst themselves. It was also a fund-raising opportunity. Kennedy had lost Dallas County in the 1960 election and was acutely aware that he was not popular there with the majority of voters. U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson was met with a near-riot when he visited Dallas the previous month and advised Kennedy not to go. But the Dallas Police Department promised increased security, so the trip was on.
Air Force One arrived at Dallas’ Love field 20 minutes before noon on the 22nd. The President’s itinerary called for his motorcade to travel through downtown and Dealey Plaza on their way to the Dallas Business and Trade Mart where the President was scheduled to have lunch with local business and political leaders.
As the motorcade made a left-hand turn onto Elm Street, over two dozen people recorded the moment with still and motion-picture cameras. The most famous of these recordings was filmed by a man named Abraham Zapruder, a Russian immigrant who owned a clothing manufacturing company located diagonally from Dealey Plaza. The Zapruder film today represents the most complete record of what happened next.
Witness testimony concerning traumatic events is not always accurate, but the general consensus is that the first of three shots was fired from the sixth floor of the Book Depository building at 12:30PM. The building was located on Elm Street, so the shooter had a downward facing shot into the President’s limousine. The first shot missed the President, but the second one hit both him and Texas Governor John Connelly, and the third hit Kennedy in the side of the head, causing the fatal wound. Realizing what had happened in only six seconds, the Presidential motorcade moved out at high speed towards Parkland Hospital several miles away.
The nation first learned of the shooting barely ten minutes after it occurred. Walter Cronkite with CBS News read an audio only statement which only mentioned what was then known: the President had been seriously wounded. It was 2PM Eastern Standard Time (1PM in Dallas) before the CBS News cameras in Cronkite’s New York studio were ready. Approximately 40 minutes later, the by-then veteran reporter told the nation that John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States was dead. All three television networks cancelled their regular programming for four days to cover the assassination without commercial breaks, something that would not happen again until the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
While the fate of the President played out at Parkland Hospital, Dallas Police were hunting for the shooter or shooters. Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who would later be charged with the crime, was briefly detained by police in the second floor lunchroom of the Book Depository, but was released. He left the building by its front door less than five minutes after the shooting. Several minutes later, the Book Depository was sealed off after witnesses claimed they saw a shooter on one of the upper floors. Police quickly found an Italian-made rifle on the sixth floor, leaning against a wall near a window.
At 1:15PM local time, about 45 minutes after the shooting, Oswald shot and killed a Dallas police officer less than one mile from the room he rented. This act was seen by at least 13 people and led to Oswald being tracked to a nearby movie theater, where he was apprehended after a brief struggle with police. He was taken to the Dallas jail.
While Oswald was being transported to jail, another incident worthy of mention was occurring at Parkland Hospital. Since the President had been shot in Texas, state law dictated that his autopsy must take place within the boundaries of the state. Since federal law at that time did not show shooting the President to be a crime, the only charges leveled against Oswald would be those pressed by the state of Texas. This added strength to the state’s position that the autopsy must occur in Dallas. However, the Secret Service detachment with the President’s body was under orders to return to Air Force One for an immediate flight back to Washington. In a hallway of the hospital, Dallas police officers and Secret Service agents brandished their service revolvers as they argued about what to do. In the midst of this tumult was Jacqueline Kennedy, who never left the President’s side. Eventually, the Secret Service won the debate and the coffin containing the President’s body was rushed to Love Field and placed aboard Air Force One. Before the plane left the tarmac, Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.
An industry has grown around various theories related to the Kennedy assassination. What I present here are facts that are considered official, although details about the shooting and the disposition of the three bullets remain in doubt. The Warren Commission, the first body to investigate the assassination, concluded that Oswald acted alone, thereby giving an official stamp to the “lone gunman” theory. Oswald could not be questioned, as he had been killed by club owner Jack Ruby the Sunday after the assassination as he was escorted through the parking garage of the Dallas Police Department. This shooting caused some conspiracy theorists to believe the murder was a Mafia hit job, since Ruby had those kinds of connections. Others place the blame on the Soviets, Southern separatists, and even the CIA.
In the late 1970’s, the House Select Committee on Assassinations, known as the HSCA, returned to the issue of what really happened on that day in Dallas. It concluded that the FBI did a poor job of investigating the shooting, including improper handling of important evidence. The Secret Service was called out for not providing enough protection given the nature of politics in Dallas. While the HSCA did not directly question the authenticity of the lone gunman theory, it shed enough light on the issue to put the true nature of events in question for many Americans. In 2003, ABC News conducted a poll in which 70% of respondents stated they believe the assassination was part of a plot, not the act of a lone shooter. While most of the documents related to that day have been released to the public, a small number will not be available until 2017. Will they answer the question with any finality? Probably not, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Monday, November 09, 2009
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