(FD-350): 'Weather frustrates hijacker hunt' with hijack route map, The Oregonian

(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

---

Weather frustrates hijacker hunt

---

By JOHN PAINTER JR. and ANDREW MERSHON :of The Oregonian Staff

Frustrated by low clouds, fog and rain, law officials called off at dusk Friday the second day of an air-ground search for an airline hijacker who may have parachuted into Southwest Wash-

ington wood and farm country with $200,000 in ransom.

There were increasing indications searchers were pursuing a futile search based on a speculative gamble of where the calm, Latin-looking hijacker allegedly bailed out of the Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 tri-jet.

FBI and other accounts of what prompted the search were contradicted by statements made by the aircraft's pilot and its crew.

Varying accounts by officials at the search scene said, variously, a change in cabin pressure, a pitch in the plane's flight, the time the hijacker last spoke to the captive crew accounted for the manhunt in the Lewis River area of Southwest Washington, about 20 miles north of Portland.

At search headquarters in the Wood-land, Wash., City Hall, officials said the hunt was centered in a 10-by-15-mile strip of the Lewis River.

Cursory searches also were conducted at other possible drop areas further south.

At the height of the search Friday, 25 to 35 FBI agents and Clark and Cowlitz county, Wash., sheriff's deputies were involved in the hunt, which included some searches of farmhouses in the vicinity.

At least three helicopters were involved, as well as several patrol boats which cruised Lake Merwin and Yale Lake in the search area near the Cascade Mountain foothills.

At one point, helicopter hunters thought they had discovered a white parachute canopy along the Lewis River. It turned out to be a tarpaulin under which youngsters were fishing in the rain, enjoying their Thanksgiving holiday.

In St. Paul, Minn., Northwest Air-lines officials cast doubt on accounts here of where the hijacker might have bailed out.

---

(e, name of city and state.)

THE OREGONIAN PORTLAND, OREGON

___

Date: 11/27/71, pg. 1 Edition: Author: Editor: Title:

Character: or Classification: Submitting Office:

☐ Being Investigated

[guess: 164-71] [illegible] [illegible]

DB Cooper-23000

Northwest official Walt Helmer quot- ed Pilot William Scott as saying no crewman had the slightest idea of where the hijacker might have left the plane.

Scott told Helmer he fully expected the hijacker to be in the tourist section of the aircraft when it landed in Reno, Nev., Wednesday night for refueling en route to the hijacker's announced goal of Mexico City.

Additionally, Scott told Helmer he chose the Victor 23 route from Seattle and down Oregon's Willamette Valley without consulting the hijacker.

Federal Aviation Authority officials in Portland said the route taken was "99 per cent likely" since it was the shortest low altitude route to Reno. Other routes were available, however, officials said.

The low altitude route apparently was dictated by the hijacker's demand the aircraft fly with its landing gear down, its flaps down 15 degrees, its rear door open and step down and at an altitude no higher than 10,000 feet.

The calm, well-spoken, middle-aged sky pirate apparently boarded the plane in Portland took control en route to Seattle by passing a note to Stewar- dess Florence Schaffner, 23, of Min- neapolis Minn.

"I thought he was trying to [guess: hustle] me," she said in St. Paul, Minn., Fri- day, but the note proved to be a threat to detonate a bomb if he was not obeyed.

At Seattle, the passengers and two stewardesses were freed in exchange for $200,000 cash and two parachute rigs, each having a main and emergen- cy chute.

The cash in $20 bills weighing 21 pounds, 4 ounces, was delivered to the aircraft in a white canvas bag, officials said.

In Las Vegas, Nev., the FBI said one parachute rig was found in the plane when it landed in Reno. The drogue from the reserve chute had been slashed off, officials said, apparently for use as a container in which to carry the money.

---

HIJACK ROUTE — Map shows route of Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 jet- liner after being hijacked by a middle-aged, Latin-looking passenger. Public airfield, civil airfield and parachute drop zone show possible spots where hi- jacker may have jumped. Officials speculate he may have gotten bearings from beacon on a power pole near Carrolls, Wash. Winds Wednesday night were from southwest at 25-45 miles per hour.

---

At Woodland search headquarters, officials still said the assumed drop zone was still speculative and that a computer at Ft. Lewis, Wash., had pro- jected a likely search area.

Clark County Sheriff Gene Cotton said there had been several uncon- firmed sightings of a man matching the description of the fugitive — mid-40s in a dark suit and raincoat.

Officials also speculated the hijacker might have pinpointed his drop zone by a red beacon light just north of the search area.

An aeronautical chart of the area re- vealed a public-use airdrome close to the search area and a civil airdrome farther south.

Also, skydivers apparently have used a large open area near Lake Merwin's Ariel Dam as a jump site. And farther south, there is a designated parachute jump site near Orchards.

All of the possible jump sites, as well

as a number of farms, were along the jetliner's flight path.

Officials at Woodland reported that poor air visibility had prompted the Army to pull back its helicopters to Ft. Lewis, Wash. The FBI, reports said, would continue searching with donated or rented aircraft.

The parachute used by the hijacker was a new, previously untested model made specially for a Renton, Wash., stunt flier. The reserve chute missing from the aircraft was a ground train- ing model with its canopy sewed shut.

In Seattle, persons familiar with the chutes said the reserve chest chute could not have been attached to the main chute's harness.

The comman[d: red] [illegible] took [illegible] the Willa[mette] [illegible], Red Bluff, [illegible], where [illegible] and landed [illegible] no [illegible] sparks caused b[y] [illegible] trance ladder st[illegible]