SAC Seattle to Director re January 6, 1972 Boeing 727 flight experiment
Document date 14 January 1972
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Id: Cooper-Part-19:016-017
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-19:016-017 Document: Memo SAC Seattle to Director re January 6, 1972 Boeing 727 flight experiment Id: Cooper-Part-19:016-017 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-19%3A016-017 What is wrong (title, date, type, which pages belong together, copies)? What does the scan show?
A person reads every report. Corrections are made by hand, to the data — titles, dates, names, which pages belong together — never to the scans, and they can take a while to appear.
FBI 164-81, Vault Part 19 pp. 16–17 (DB Cooper-5852–5853), Memo, dated 14 Jan 1972, serial SE 164-81-1905 (as read from the transcript) — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-19%3A016-017
DIRECTOR, FBI (164-2111) January 14, 1972
SAC, SEATTLE (164-81) (P)
NORJAK
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For the Bureau's information, on January 6, 1972, [REDACTED] Northwest Airlines in Minneapolis, Minnesota, accompanied by [REDACTED]
Northwest Airlines; [REDACTED] Northwest Airlines; and [REDACTED] with permission of [REDACTED] of Northwest Airlines, flew the same Boeing 727 aircraft that was hijacked from Minneapolis to Seattle so that an experiment could be held endeavoring to simulate the exact flight conditions in order that it could be determined if the airplane reacted in the same way and in that manner when the weight equivalent to the estimated weight of the hijacker was ejected from the airplane via the back stairs.
Under [REDACTED] directions, the last three rows of seats were removed from the aircraft and special measuring devices were attached to the rear end of the cabin so that it could be determined exactly what happened in the aircraft when the weight was dislodged. Through the assistance of members of the U. S. Air Force, three sleds were made on which were placed sand bag weights, bringing the total weight to approximately 235 pounds, that being the estimated weight of the hijacker, the parachute, and the money.
On the morning of January 6, 1972, the Air Force provided a tracking plane with sophisticated photographic equipment on it, which first swept the surface to insure that there were no surface crafts in the vicinity, and at that point the 727 ascended to approximately 7,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean west of Hoquiam, Washington.
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2 - Bureau (2)- Seattle JEM/gjw (4)
[STAMP: SEARCHED... Serialized [REDACTED] Indexed [REDACTED] Filed [REDACTED]]
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DB Cooper-5852 164-81- 1905
SE 164-81
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[REDACTED] put the aircraft in the same flight configuration as the hijacker had directed, at which time Air Force personnel allowed the weighted sled to fall from the end of the stairs. The reaction in the airplane was instantaneous and was described by [REDACTED] as being the same reaction that they had in the airplane when they believed the hijacker jumped.
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As a result, [REDACTED] has now taken this information, together with some refined data given to him by the Air Force, and has identified an area near Highland, Washington, where it is believed the hijacker jumped.
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The employees of Northwest not only spent considerable time on this project, but [REDACTED] had to arrange for the airplane to be taken from the flight line for a day and one-half so it could be accomplished. The representatives of Northwest, particularly [REDACTED] have been extremely helpful during this entire investigation and in view of this extended effort on their part, it is suggested that the Bureau may desire to address a letter to [REDACTED] Northwest Airlines, expressing the Bureau's appreciation.
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DB Cooper-5853
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b6 b7C
Serials: 164-2111, SE 164-81, SE 164-81-1905