Investigative insert re interview at Pacific Parachute Center, Aurora, Oregon
Document date 30 November 1971
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Id: Cooper-Part-91:041-042
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-91:041-042 Document: Investigative insert re interview at Pacific Parachute Center, Aurora, Oregon Id: Cooper-Part-91:041-042 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-91%3A041-042 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 91 pp. 41–42 (DB Cooper-40398–40399), Report, dated 30 Nov 1971 — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-91%3A041-042
PD 164-41
RPK:tms 1
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The following investigation was conducted by SA [REDACTED]
AT AURORA, OREGON.
On November 30, 1971, [REDACTED], Pacific Parachute Center, Route 1, Box 215A, Aurora, Oregon, telephone number [REDACTED], was contacted, shown artist's conception and furnished a description of the unknown hijacker of a Northwest Boeing 727, November 24, 1971, [REDACTED] advised the person in the photograph was unknown to him. He stated that to the best of his knowledge, there has never been anyone at [REDACTED] who would resemble the description of the hijacker. [REDACTED] stated the face in the photograph is familiar from the nose on down, but he was unable to furnish any information as to where or when he has seen anyone with these features.
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[REDACTED] stated he is of the opinion that the hijacker was a novice in one respect. [REDACTED] went on to explain that on certain chutes, there are releases called "capewells." These are used when a person is going to jump in a wooded area. "Capewells" enable the chutist, once he has landed in the trees, to unbuckle the harness, thus releasing his chute altogether. Without these, a person would either have to cut the chute away from himself or step out of it, which is very difficult to do if he is in a tree.
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In another respect, [REDACTED] was under the impression that this hijacker might have known what he was doing and may have had some type of training in parachuting such as "smoke jumper school" or possibly may have been a member of some parachuting group, such as the Special Forces, in the Armed Forces. Examples of these are the "Green Berets," the "Rangers" or the "101 Airbourn."
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DB Cooper-40398
140 11-201
SEARCHED _____ INDEXED / SERIALIZED ____ FILED ___ DEC 8 1971 FBI-PORTLAND
9/a Bu [guess: Chey] - A[illegible]
PD 164-41
RPK:tms 2
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[REDACTED] stated [REDACTED] skydiving exhibition last year which was to take place somewhere in Southern California where the skydivers were to jump from a "big" airplane. He did not remember exactly when this was or where in Southern California this was to take place. He did not remember what type of airplane was to be used, only that it was to be a bigger airplane than is normally used.
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[REDACTED] further advised that according to the information he has heard, unless the hijacker tied the con- tainer of money to his body, he does not believe he could have held onto it, as the parachute the hijacker used was a "flat chute," that is, once the rip cord is pulled, the chute opens immediately and there is quite a jolt when it opens. He stated with this chute, a jumper could be traveling 150 miles per hour and when this chute initially opens, the chutist is stopped for a second with his elapsed speed of 0. This takes approximately 3/4 to 1 second. He stated it would be difficult for anyone to hold onto anything with a chute of this nature.
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A review of [REDACTED] revealed the following names:
[REDACTED] Portland, Oregon
[REDACTED] Aurora, Oregon
[REDACTED] Portland, Oregon
[REDACTED] Portland, Oregon
[REDACTED] Portland, Oregon
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DB Cooper-40399
Serials: PD 164-41