(FD-350): 'FBI Says Public's Help Needed If Skyjacker To Be Caught' and 'How'd Ya Do It, Hi?', The Oregon Journal

(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

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FBI Says Public's Help Needed If Skyjacker To Be Caught

By JAMES LONG Journal Staff Writer

Julius Mattson, FBI agent in charge of the Portland office, said Tuesday that the public's help is "definitely needed" in "solving last week's $200,000 air- liner hijacking.

"I've read in the newspapers that some people think the hi- jacker performed a pretty clever feat, and that they hope he gets away," Mattson smiled wryly.

HE ADDED: "In a way, I can understand this attitude. The hijacker carried out a well-planned crime. He threat- ened to blow up an airliner with 42 people and extorted $200,000 from the carrier. The question, now, is where do we draw the line?"

Despite some reports of pub- lic admiration for the bandit who parachuted out of the Northwest Airlines 727, Matt- son said he knows of no in- stance in which the public has refused to help agents investi- gating the case.

Meanwhile Tuesday, the FBI and local authorities ended their search Tuesday, of the Woodland, Wash., area where they thought the hijacker may have landed by parachute last Wednesday night.

The FBI is questioning at least two dozen Northwest sky- divers who fit the general de- scription of the suspect.

At least one of the skydivers reportedly had used several small airports in the Woodland area to practice parachuting, including several night jumps.

ANOTHER lead being fol- lowed in the case are possible fingerprints on $20 bills ob- tained from the Northwest Air- lines ticket counter at Portland International Airport where the bandit purchased a one- way ticket to Seattle.

The bills, and a note mailed Monday to a Reno, Nev., news- paper from "D.B. Cooper," are being examined in the FBI Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

"D.B. Cooper" was the name given to the Northwest Airlines clerk by the suspect who pur- chased his ticket with a $20

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STILL NOT explicitly clear Tuesday was why the FBI and local authorities singled out the Woodland, Wash., area for a fine-tooth search for the fugi- tive parachutist. Early reports said the 727's crew had detect- ed a slight shift in the balance of the plane. Later reports hinted at a change in cabin pressure as the [guess: bandit] opened a door.

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

___________________________ THE OREGON JOURNAL PORTLAND, OREGON ___________________________

Date: 12/1/71, pg. 2 Edition: Author: Editor: Title:

Character: or Classification: Submitting Office:

☐ Being Investigated

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DB Cooper-22998

"How'd Ya Do It, Hi?"

About that sky-diving skyjacker who did the vanishing act with $200,000 of Northwest Orient Airlines' cash: The FBI, after combing the likely jump zones on the plane's route, appears embarrassingly befuddled at the pre- sent time. Several Journal reporters ruined shoeshines, shoes and tempers tromping around in the wet woods looking for clues. There appears to be only one way to solve this crime: We are hereby asking the hijacker how he did it: Dear Hi, How did you do it? Sincerely, Bud Crick and Jim Long The Journal

P.S. Also, Hi (we hope you don't mind the familiar ad- dress), we know this query is apt to touch off a lot of crank mail, so we need proof that you're the right guy. Please send us one of your $20 bills, of which you'll have 9,999 left, so we can be sure we aren't being "put on" by some cad posing-as you.

We are asking how you performed the hijacking because, to be quite frank, we can't figure it out. Also, the people who made the stunt pilot parachute up in Seattle want to know if it worked OK.

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HAVE YOU seen this man? FBI composite drawings of hijacker is being circulated with request for public help. Description is white male, 6 foot 1, 170-75 pounds, slen- der, in mid-40s, olive com- plexion.

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"There are three big engine[s] back there," commented Mar- tin. "When you consider that the plane was flying with 15 degree flaps and its wheels down, it would be impossible to distinguish the man's move- ments from the turbulence you'd be experiencing."

MARTIN ALSO discounted the notion of the parachutist's weight forcing the ramp down- ward to act like a "dive brake." As for the reported change in cabin pressure, he said, "this couldn't have been the case because the cabin wasn't pressurized."

Martin did, however, offer a possible explanation for why the crew and the Federal Avia- tion Agency pinpointed the[y] [guess: identified] a passenger cabin tempera- Woodland area. He explained that the 727 has two rear doors. The first door, he said, is part of the passen- ger cabin's "pressures bulk- head," and swings inward like a house door at the rear of the economy section.

THE RAMP, he said, is an- other door with ladder-like steps which swings down un- der the rear of the plane. [guess: Martin] noted that the first is a self-closing mecha- and that it won't stay less it is deliberate[ly] open. He said th[e] [guess: light-recorder] indica[tor]

ture of zero as the hijacker waited to parachute out with the money. If the "pressure bu[lk][head]" door as well as the out[er] [guess: door] had been open during [the] flight, he speculated, th[e] [guess: air] temperature may [have] been unbearable [and] movement which [was] been created in

IF THE [BANK] to be dressed [illegible] — as the de- [illegible] he [guess: would have]

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Still other reports included talks of a "slowdown" in the plane's speed as the ramp-like rear door of the 727 was forced downward by the weight of the parachutist. John Martin [guess: spoke] [illegible] for [illegible] [illegible] crew [guess: could] [illegible] ment of the [illegible] the [guess: over] [illegible]

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DB Cooper-22999