The passenger hijacked the plane and disappeared (7 photos)

In 1971, Dan Cooper (as he called himself) hijacked a plane flying from Oregon to Seattle. There he is, in exchange for $200,000, released 36 passengers. After that, an almost empty plane again took to the air and headed south. Cooper took the money, jumped out plane with a parachute and was never seen again.





45 years of the FBI brushing aside the most fantastic versions incident and eventually declared that the investigation was closed and that it was the longest in all history.

Nobody knows who Dan Cooper was. According to eyewitnesses, he was about 40 years old, which means that he is now about 90. But how did he manage to hijack the plane?



November 24, 1971 Dan Cooper (probably not his real name, but so be it) in Portland went to the Northwest counter. He was dressed in business suit, carrying a briefcase. For a one way ticket to Seattle paid in cash.

At about 3:00 p.m., Cooper handed the note to the flight attendant, where It says there is a bomb in the briefcase. The stewardess saw in the ajar briefcase wires and some "red sticks". The girl wrote down the requirements (200 000 dollars in 20 dollar bills and 4 parachutes) and handed them over captain of a Boeing 727.





In Seattle, 36 passengers were exchanged for parachutes and money. The plane took off again: Cooper and the crew were in the cabin - they headed towards Mexico City and flew, at the request of the blackmailer, not above 3 km.

In the evening, somewhere between Reno and Seattle, Cooper jumped over a wooded area and disappeared.



This story has found a great reflection in culture: there is a 2004 film "Without an oar" or "Three in a canoe", where they talk about three friends who went to the desert to find the lost ransom and found the skeleton Cooper.

In 1981, the film "Hunting D. B. Cooper" was released, based on the 1980 book Free Fall. There is also a D. B." Elwood Reed, where, according to the writer, Cooper was a Vietnam veteran. In book "End of the Rainbow" by James M. Cain also has a certain similarity with Cooper's story.



Money.

In 1980, an eight-year-old boy found on the banks of the Columbia River a half-rotted pack of twenties worth $5,800. They matched with ransom serial numbers.

In 1971, the $200,000 ransom was worth $1.2 million. dollars today. The rest of the money disappeared along with their owner.

The FBI, of course, searched all the sand along Columbia, but to no avail.



Hundreds of people were interviewed, the most insane versions worked out. By the fifth 800 people were tested in the year of the hijacking. According to The Times, the FBI dossier, which is available for online viewing, is more than 1000 suspects, among them were those who were pointed out by psychics, someone came with confessions on their own, and some were laid by lovers relatives.



For all the time, there has not been a single evidence of whether Cooper survived at all after his jump from the plane.

The Cooper investigation was dropped in 2016, but For undefined period. Largely and because of the fact that to save the FBI from an influx of mostly annoying calls, crazy emails and other crazy deeds of supporters of various conspiracy theories.

It is possible that the identity of D. B. Cooper will forever remain a secret.