SA to SAC Seattle re Boeing 727 technical data and aft airstair operation
Document date 8 December 1971
Also filed at: Part 100 pp. 60–61
Copies may differ in what was redacted.
Also filed separately as sections:
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Id: Cooper-Part-24:670-671
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-24:670-671 Document: Memo SA to SAC Seattle re Boeing 727 technical data and aft airstair operation Id: Cooper-Part-24:670-671 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-24%3A670-671 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 24 pp. 670–671 (DB Cooper-4107–4108), Memo, dated 8 Dec 1971 — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-24%3A670-671
OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10 MAY 1962 EDITION GSA FPMR (41 CFR) 101-11.6 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
Memorandum
TO : SAC (164-81) (P) DATE: 12/8/71
FROM : SA [REDACTED] Sub - P. - C. - G.
SUBJECT: UNSUB, aka Dan Cooper; NORTHWEST AIRLINES FLIGHT 305 PORTLAND TO SEATTLE, 11/24/71 RE: Boeing Technical CAA-HIJACKING; Data b3 EXTORTION OO: SE RE: [REDACTED]
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On 12/2/71, [REDACTED] Seattle, Washington, furnished the following information:
He was [REDACTED] testing of this aircraft.
It is physically impossible to make a take-off in the 727 with the rear stairs extended. He explained that if this were attempted the stairs would strike the runway at the point of rotation just prior to liftoff.
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162-Ole- 10,5 0 SEARCHED ......... [illegible] SERIALIZED /[illegible] FILED [illegible] DEC (8) 1971 FBI-SEATTLE
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JCN/djs (3) [handwritten annotation]
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Buy U.S. Savings Bonds Regularly on the Payroll Savings Plan
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DB Cooper-4107
SE 164-81
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On the 727, the rear stairs cannot be lowered from the pilot's compartment. They can be lowered only from the passenger compartment in the rear of the plane or externally if the plane is on the ground.
[REDACTED] advised that once the operation of the rear stairs has started there is no way to stop them until they have extended to the full position. On the ground when the rear stairs are extended, the weight of the stairs actually carries them to the full open position. If the stairs are extended in flight, the pressure of the wind keeps them from opening to the full position.
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On several occasions [REDACTED] extended the rear stairs while in flight. This was done at speeds of approximately 150 knots. Opening the rear stairs in flight at speeds at 150 to 170 knots would not suck any items from the passenger cabin. There would be a slight change in pressurization but this would not remove any papers or cushions from the passenger cabin.
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DB Cooper-4108
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b3 b6 b7C
Serials: SE 164-81