D.B. Cooper Season 1, Episode 8 |Bruce Collins Hidden Mystery

The 1971 Hijacking of Northwest Orient Flight 305

The episode recounts the hijacking of Northwest Orient Flight 305 by a man who bought his ticket as “Dan Cooper,” later mistakenly popularized in the press as D.B. Cooper. After boarding in Portland, he told a flight attendant he had a bomb and demanded $200,000 and four parachutes.

The ransom was delivered in Seattle, where Cooper released the passengers. He then ordered the plane back into the air under specific low-speed, low-altitude conditions.

During the flight, Cooper apparently lowered the Boeing 727’s rear stairs and jumped into the night. The crew reached Reno and discovered he was gone. Despite extensive searches, investigators never established where he jumped or found him, a body, or his parachute.

The episode notes that Cooper’s experience remains uncertain. Some details suggest familiarity with aviation, while jumping at night in bad weather and wearing business clothes suggests he may not have been an expert skydiver.

The Investigation and Suspects

In 1980, a child found about $5,800 in ransom money on the Columbia River. The bills’ serial numbers matched the ransom, but their location raised new questions. The remaining money has never been found in circulation.

Numerous people have been proposed as suspects, including Richard Floyd McCoy Jr., Kenneth Christiansen, Duane Weber, and Richard Rexerow. None has been conclusively identified as Cooper.

In 2016, the FBI redirected resources away from actively investigating the case, though amateur researchers continued to pursue it.

The Unresolved Mystery

The episode closes on the central uncertainty: Cooper may have died during the dangerous jump, or he may have survived and lived undetected. His identity, fate, and the whereabouts of nearly all the ransom remain unknown.

Presenter/contributor: Bruce Collins