D.B. Cooper: America's Greatest Unsolved Hijacking
How a man in a business suit vanished into the night with $200,000 and became a legend
Quick Facts
On November 24, 1971—the day before Thanksgiving—a nondescript man in his mid-40s walked onto Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 in Portland, Oregon, with a briefcase and a plan. He had purchased a $20 ticket under the name Dan Cooper. Within minutes of takeoff toward Seattle, he handed a note to flight attendant Florence Schaffner claiming he had a bomb. When she asked to see proof, he opened his briefcase to reveal wires, red sticks, and a battery.
The man—later misidentified as "D.B. Cooper" by media reporting errors—had ignited what would become one of the most enduring mysteries in American criminal history.
**The Demands and Standoff**
Cooper's demands were simple but audacious: $200,000 in $20 bills (equivalent to roughly $1.6 million in 2025 currency) and four parachutes. He ordered the Boeing 727 to land in Seattle and threatened to detonate his device if the authorities didn't comply.
The plane circled Puget Sound for approximately two hours while Seattle police and FBI agents scrambled to assemble the ransom and parachutes. Northwest Orient Airlines president Donald Nyrop authorized the payment. Once the money and parachutes arrived, Cooper released 36 passengers (accounts vary, with some sources citing 51) but retained the pilots, flight engineer, and one flight attendant as hostages.
After refueling, Cooper ordered the aircraft to fly toward Mexico City with a scheduled stop in Reno, Nevada. He insisted the plane fly below 10,000 feet at a maximum speed of 200 knots—slow enough to make a safe parachute jump.
