AP article 'Twenty-five years after his big jump, D.B. Cooper's legend flies high' (Twin Tiers paper)

Twenty-five years after his big jump, D.B. Cooper's legend flies high

By GEORGE TIBBITS □ The Associated Press

SEATTLE — It's been 25 years since he took that big step out of a Boeing 727 at 10,000 feet, yet tips on D.B. Cooper still trickle in.

One of the most daring — or dumbest—criminals ever remains at large, having either flouted the laws of society or been foiled by the law of gravity.

"It's still a pending investigation," says Seattle-based FBI agent Ray Lauer, who adds that the case will stay open "probably forever."

The FBI here still stores 60 volumes of interviews and other documents telling how Cooper hijacked a jetliner, demanded and received $200,000, then jumped from the plane over the Cascade Mountains of southwestern Washington and into legend.

He hasn't been heard from since, although $5,880 of his loot was found by a boy playing on the banks of the Columbia River in 1980.

A few taverns and restaurants mark the anniversary of the nation's only unsolved skyjacking case. And now and then someone calls the FBI with a tip or suggestion.

"Surprisingly, yeah, we still get quite a few of them," Lauer says. "They tend to come in spurts, when they might get two to four in a week, then might not get any more tips for several months."

The FBI dutifully checks them out.

Wherever Cooper is, it's a safe bet his skydiving days are over: If he survived, he'd be 70 or older now.

On Nov. 24, 1971, the night before Thanksgiving, a man in his mid-40s wearing dark glasses boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines plane in Portland.

He bought a ticket under the name Dan Cooper — a law enforcement official later erroneously referred to him as "D.B." and the initials stuck — and took seat 18F in coach. He ordered a bourbon and water and handed flight attendant Flo Schaffner a note.

He apparently lacked a strong criminal presence; the busy Schaffner stuck the paper in her pocket, thinking it was a mash note, according to an account published in Northwest's 1986 corporate history, "Flight to the Top."

Not until takeoff did she bother to read the message: "Miss, I've got a bomb, come sit next to me — you're being hijacked."

Fellow cabin attendant Tina Mucklow Larson recounted how she and Schaffner relayed dozens of messages from Cooper to the cockpit — including his demands for $200,000 in used $20 bills and four parachutes.

He had no unusual characteristics, Larson recalled. He wore a dark suit, dark tie, white shirt and the sunglasses, which he never took off, and chain-smoked.

He also had a black briefcase, which he opened for Larson, showing her a couple of red cylinders, wires and a battery.

He collected the money, provided by the airline, during a stop at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where the 36 passengers and two flight attendants were released. Larson and the two pilots remained on board. Cooper demanded the plane be flown to Mexico, agreeing to a refueling stop at Reno.

Just after takeoff, Larson said, Cooper asked how to lower the rear stairs of the 727, the only jetliner equipped with that feature. He then told her to go to the front of the plane and pull the first-class curtain shut.

About 40 minutes after takeoff, the cockpit's stair signal light flashed on. When the jet landed in Reno, the stairs were down and Cooper was missing, along with the money and two parachutes.

Such an exit would be impossible today: Cooper's lasting contribution to aircraft design is the "Cooper Vane," a latching device on Boeing 727s that prevents the tail stairway from being lowered in flight.

Cooper dove into a freezing rainstorm at 10,000 feet, wearing only a business suit and loafers. The temperature was 7 below zero, not counting a wind chill factor estimated at minus 70 because of the plane's speed of 200 mph.

Ralph Himmelsbach, the FBI agent assigned to the case before his retirement in 1980, has long maintained Cooper was a bumbler and a fool.

If the cold didn't kill him, if he withstood the powerful turbulence, Cooper was still parachuting into dense forest at night, at the onset of winter, with no food or survival gear.

"It was a bad place to land, and it is doubtful we would ever find the body," Himmelsbach said in a 1991 interview. "This was a desperate act you wouldn't expect from a normal man in his mid-40s. This was something you would expect from somebody who had nothing to lose."

Himmelsbach believes Cooper either landed in the Columbia and drowned, or died in the mountains and the money was washed out.

An extensive search turned up no traces. Nine years later, Mount St. Helens erupted and blanketed much of the area with ash.

Each year, celebrations are held at restaurants named D.B. Cooper in Salt Lake City and San Jose, and at a little bar in Ariel in southwestern Washington where, legend has it, Cooper paid an anonymous visit.

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A 1973 file photo of drawings of D.B. Cooper.

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[t]he Times Herald, call 372-3121 or 1-800-722-8[...]2 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to noon Saturday and Sunday.

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DB Cooper-21342

O[illegible]n police report

Saturday, 3 p.m., an employee of the Sugar Creek Store on North Union Street reported someone drove off without paying for $16.35 in gasoline. Saturday, 1 p.m., Karl E. Dutton, 48, of 3169 Union Valley Road reported a hit-and-run driver struck his car as he was pulling into the Kmart parking lot near North 28th Street. No injuries or charges were reported.

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New York State Police

CLARKSVILLE — Wellsville-based state police said Christopher Pleckan, 35, of Rochester was driving an all-terrain vehicle Saturday around 7:20 p.m. when he struck a parked car on Wolf Creek Road owned by Leon Morrow of Buffalo. Troopers said Pleckan sustained a multiple fracture to one leg and was taken to Olean General Hospital. He was later transferred in stable condition to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester for treatment. Troopers said charges are pending further investigation.

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Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Department

RANDOLPH — Dale Beaver of 3786 Kirk Road reported Friday at 1:55 p.m. that someone broke out the window of his truck and took a Remington semiautomatic shotgun. MACHIAS — Jeff Clever of 476 Lakeview Blvd. reported Friday at 11:04 p.m. that someone spinning their wheels kicked up a stone near his home, breaking one of his windows.

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Twin Tiers forecast

Today's Twin Tier forecast calls for overcast conditions and wet snow. Sleet or freezing rain are likely during the afternoon. Expect a high in the mid 30s. Tonight expect freezing drizzle or snow and a low of 25. Monday will be mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow and a high of 35. Allegheny River: Not available. Allegheny Reservoir: 1,306.4 feet, falling. Sun: Sets tonight at 4:46, rises Monday at 7:15. National high: 86, McAllen, Texas. National low: -9, Baudette, Minn.

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Extended regional forecast

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 40/31 34/22 32/19

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Wellsville village police

Wednesday, 3:33 a.m., Shawn R. McElroy, 24, of Cassadaga was charged with leaving the scene of a property damage accident, following too closely and excessive speed in a posted zone after an investigation into an accident that occurred Monday at North Main and Martin streets. Police said McElroy's vehicle struck another vehicle driven by Patricia M. Maton, 45, of George Street, then left the scene. Wednesday, 8:51 p.m., police charged Michael T. Marino of 50 S. Brooklyn Ave. with petit larceny after he allegedly stole merchandise from Tops Friendly Markets.

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Howard Gleason, 59, of 3048 Panama St., Niagara Falls, was exiting his tree stand around 1:30 p.m. in a Hospital in Springville, where he is [guess: listed] in stable condition. No charges [guess: were] reported.

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Carpet

More than 25 in stock

Olean 3 miles east on Rte. 417 (716) 373-3300

Wellsville 98 Bolivar Rd. (716) 593-6600

Murphy's All in-stock carpet sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

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DB Cooper-21343