A hijacker calling himself D.B. Cooper parachuted from a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 into a raging thunderstorm over Washington
State. He had $200,000 in ransom money in his possession.

Cooper commandeered the aircraft shortly after takeoff, showing a
flight attendant something that looked like a bomb and informing
the crew that he wanted $200,000, four parachutes, and “no funny
stuff.” The plane landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport,
where authorities met Cooper’s demands and evacuated most of
the passengers. Cooper then demanded that the plane fly toward
Mexico at a low altitude and ordered the remaining crew into the
cockpit.

At 8:13 p.m., as the plane flew over the Lewis River in southwest Washington, the plane’s pressure gauge recorded Cooper’s jump
from the aircraft. Wearing only wraparound sunglasses, a thin suit,
and a raincoat, Cooper parachuted into a thunderstorm with winds
in excess of 100 mph and temperatures well below zero at the 10,000
foot altitude where he began his fall. Most authorities assumed he
was killed during his apparently suicidal jump. No trace of Cooper
was found during a massive search.

TIM MAGUIRE