'HIJACKER VANISHES INTO NIGHT' (The Province, Vancouver B.C.)

FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)

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HIJACKER VANISHES INTO NIGHT

Associated Press

RENO, Nev. — A man apparently armed with a bomb hijacked a Northwest Airlines jetliner Wednesday night for $200,000 but was not found aboard the plane when it landed here for refueling near midnight, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration officials said.

The hijacker was given four parachutes by airline officials when the plane left Seattle. Officials said he may have parachuted from the Boeing 727 while it was in flight or

jumped out as it taxied up to the airport terminal with its cabin lights out.

As the plane was taxiing toward the terminal, it stopped long enough for the man to escape safely through an emergency exit, the FAA said. Sheriff's deputies with dogs began a search for him among houses surrounding the airport.

The crew of three men and one stewardess were hustled off the plane into waiting cars 35 minutes after the craft landed. Authorities said the delay in taking the crew off

the craft was due to the possibility that a bomb had been placed in the rear of the plane.

Jack Kiehler, district sales manager for Northwest in Seattle, said the hijacker had locked all four of the plane's crew members in the cockpit during the flight from Seattle to Reno.

The hijacker stayed by himself in the rear of the airplane and did not acknowledge the crew's attempts to communicate with him before the plane touched down in Reno, Kiehler said.

The hijacker took over the airliner shortly before it was to land in Seattle at 3:30 p.m. on a flight from Washington, D.C.

On the ground at 5:43 p.m., he allowed the passengers and two stewardesses to leave and an airline employee took the four parachutes and the $200,000 to the plane.

It was not known if the hijacker planned to parachute from the plane, but he ordered the plane to fly with the landing gear and flaps down and the rear stairwell open.

The pilot said he was told

by the hijacker: "Get the show on the road."

Radio communications from the plane indicated the cabin lights were out and the temperature was seven degrees below zero on the flight to Reno. The pilot said cockpit lights indicated the rear door was being operated.

Airline officials said the stairwell must be retracted for take off and landing but could be lowered in flight so the hijacker could bail out if he chooses.

A Boeing spokesman said

the 727 is one of the few commercial aircraft from which a person could bail out.

"It would be a very safe drop," said John Wheeler. "He'd be away from the flaps and other engines and go straight down."

Wheeler said Boeing had performed an air drop demonstration from the 727 using boxes and "it worked quite well."

A Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman in Seattle said the FBI had asked the Missoula, Mont., U.S. forest service centre to check on a Michael Cooper in connection with the hijacking.

The FBI spokesman said Cooper "among others" was

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(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)

p.1 The Province Vancouver British Columbia, Canada

Date: 11/25/71 Edition: Final Author: Paddy Sherman Title: UNSUB, aka Dan Cooper; Northwest Airlines Fl. 305, Portland Character: to Seattle, 11/2 eCAA-HIJACKING; EXT Classification: 164-81 Submitting Office: Seattle

☐ Being Investigated

COPY SENT TO BUREAU

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DB Cooper-22460

being investigated. The spokesman said Cooper board- ed the plane in Portland. In Missoula, Leonard Kraut of the U.S. forest service's smoke jumper training centre confirmed he had "been checking all night for people, the FBI and others," whether there was a Michael Cooper who trained there. "I'm not saying he never was a smokejumper, I'm just saying he never jumped from this base," Kraut said. Most of the passengers did not know the plane had been hijacked. "The crew just said some- thing might be wrong with the plane," said Pat Minsch of [I]nchorage. "We had no idea there was a hijacking in- volved until we were off the plane."

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The man was sitting in back of the plane with the stewar- esses, said George Labisso- [niere] of Seattle. "There's nothing unusual looking about him," said Richard Simmons of Seattle, another passenger. "He is middle-aged and was wearing dark glasses." The plane, hijacked en route from Portland to Seattle, cir- cled the Seattle area for 3½ hours while airline officials arranged to have the $200,000 and four parachutes demand- ed by the hijacker brought to the airport. In Seattle the passengers were allowed to leave the plane, but had to cross an- other runway to reach a wait- ing bus which the hijacker refused to allow near the plane. All flights were halted

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While the passengers were in transit. The two stewardesses were allowed to leave later, but the pilot said the hijacker would not allow a third one to leave. There was no explanation why the hijacker wanted four parachutes. A series of fuel trucks shut- tled to, and from, the three- engine jet. Al Lee, a Northwest em- ployee who brought the money and parachutes to the plane, the operator of the passenger ramp, and the fueling crew were the only persons near the plane. The passengers were ques- tioned by the FBI before being released. Simmons said the first word from the pilot was about a[n] hour after the plane had been

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scheduled to land, and the pilot said only that there were mechanical difficulties and the plane had to circle to burn off fuel. "We knew something was wrong when they let us off on a cold, dark runway," Sim- mons said.

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Airplane similar to this one was hijacked on its way to Seattle.

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DB Cooper 22461