Part 3, page 13

Transcript

The scan is the source; the transcript is machine-generated from it.

[illegible/fragmented] ...bout putting his money into land: [illegible] when [illegible] we [illegible] some $5[illegible] ...ke-u [illegible] [illegible] ch of a captain sum Cooper [illegible] of taped interviews, he put on ma[ke-up] [illegible] asked would a man have to invest to [illegible] a wool cap and answered himself [illegible] 0007 [illegible] a freelance cameraman and [illegible] yield [an] annual income of about $12,[000] [illegible] soundman [illegible] had brought up [illegible] [Thomas] took his pencil and worked [illegible] age [illegible] "00" Cooper thought [illegible] structing them to hear nothing, see but [illegible] his needs were modest [illegible] nothing, ask no questions. [illegible] their ears while [illegible] made them [illegible] scaled d[own] the figure [illegible] stick wads of wax [illegible] [made] them. [illegible] the plane for $200,000. [illegible] relating how he hijacked the [illegible] he raised the photostats [illegible] of the stolen [illegible] And that was [illegible] [illegible] turn their backs from the camera when [illegible] stereotyped individual [illegible] [illegible] that I'm not just a faceless number. I'm [illegible] he decided to [illegible] [illegible] he decided to [illegible] [illegible] I interviewed Cooper, and [illegible] [illegible] bills to be fi[lmed] [illegible] [illegible] planes. You don't have to even [illegible] your voice. You don't have to [use] any [illegible] person [illegible] I'm a human [being] prove violence. You don't have to use [any] Old Dad can still do it. threats, and you can still tell that plane [illegible] Packed my fil[m] [illegible] where to go and not jeopardize all those [illegible] of the bills [illegible] headed people. I showed them their [screening] [illegible] still euphoric [when] the plane system doesn't work. [illegible] Les[?] Angeles [illegible] felt that if [illegible] [illegible] never dreamed [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] had [illegible] anything against the Establishment [illegible] but here he had hijacked this plane in a [illegible] [high?] [illegible] cold vengeful rage. Now he had [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] classic commentary on American [so-]

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benefits and his few investments, would be about $12,000. He went to "Seth Thomas," investment counselor, who had approached him several times previous about putting his money into land. How much of a capital sum, Cooper asked, would a man have to invest to yield an annual income of about $12,000? Thomas took his pencil and worked it out: $250,000. Cooper thought about it, but then decided his needs were modest, so he scaled down the figure to $200,000. And that was how he decided to hijack the plane for $200,000.

After relating how he hijacked the plane and drove home in his car with the money, he insisted he didn't feel guilty over the crime, or over the possibility that he might encourage others to stage hijackings, until someone got killed.

"I took what I figured was mine, not even all of it. I had more coming than that. I didn't do anything wrong," he said.

Wax in Ears

When we finished some eight hours of taped interviews, he put on make-up and a wool cap and allowed himself to be filmed by a freelance cameraman and soundman I had brought up after instructing them to hear nothing, see nothing, ask no questions. I made them stick wads of wax into their ears while I interviewed Cooper, and made them turn their backs from the camera when he raised the photostats of the stolen bills to be filmed.

That afternoon, we rode – along with Seth Thomas, whose name I now knew to be Jack Lewis – down Interstate 5, and he showed me all the key spots in the hijacking. As we drove, he talked about his future. Would he get back in the rat race again? Or would he fulfill his fantasy and travel?

"If anything, I've done the people a favor," he said. "I've shown them that it can be done. You don't have to be the stereotyped individual that hijacks planes. You don't have to even raise your voice. You don't have to use any violence. You don't have to use any threats, and you can still tell that plane where to go and not jeopardize all those people. I showed them their screening system doesn't work."

He "never dreamed I would be saying anything against the Establishment" but here he had hijacked this plane in a cold vengeful rage. Now he had a message "to the younger generation that wants to shoot everybody over 30. They've botched every single one they've ever done, with all their bombings and all their riots and cold-blooded murders and their escape through drugs. Well, I showed them. I'm not over the hill. I can make another jump tomorrow. I can make one 10 years from now, God willing. You bet."

And: "I proved to the Establishment that I'm not just a faceless number. I'm a person. I'm a human being. I proved that Old Dad can still do it."

Jubilantly, I packed my film, my tapes, my copies of the bills and headed home.

I was still euphoric when the plane reached Los Angeles. I felt that if I never wrote another story, I had justified my existence, by creating something worthwhile, something that would stand – I presumed to imagine – as a classic commentary on American society.

NEXT WEEK: [a out?], a book publisher's betrayal of trust, some indictments, and the growing suspicion that it was all a hoax.