A hijacker who became known as D.B. Cooper parachutes 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 what 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.
A storm prevented an immediate capture, and most authorities
assumed he was killed during his apparently suicidal jump. No
trace of Cooper was found during a massive search.
