Part 4, page 13

Transcript

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

On the storm-blown Thanksgiving Eve of November 24, 1971, a man calling himself "D.B. Cooper" parachuted out of the belly of a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 jetliner somewhere between Seattle and Reno. Strapped to his waist was a packet stuffed with 10,000 twenty-dollar bills, the ransom he had received while holding the plane's crew hostage at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Since then the FBI, assisted by state and county [illegible] and by battalions of GIs from Fort Lewis have spent countless hours and many thousands of taxpayers dollars trying to find Cooper.

But Cooper—the name the hijacker used at Portland when boarding Flight No. 305, Northwest's transcontinental "milk run" which emanated at National Airport in Washington, D.C.—has evaded his would-be captors with the same style and elan he exhibited in pulling the most bizarre caper in the history of aerial piracy.

Goaded by public adoration of the skyjacker, and rankled almost to tears by such Coopermaniacal items as ballads ("D.B. Cooper, Where Are You Now"), D.B. Cooper sweatshirts, and even memorial bikini panties, the Seattle office of the FBI has sworn to scour every inch of terrain between Sea-Tac and Reno to track down their man. At this writing it looks very much as if Mr. Hoover's minions may have to do exactly that.

The media has been just as eager for clues to Cooper's whereabouts, his true identity, his motives. Locally, the P-I offered a $5,000 reward under their Secret Witness crime fighter series. The Seattle Times, while gently chiding editorially those who would adulate Cooper, has pretty much kept its button-down cool about the whole thing.

Now, into this lacuna-filled tangle of pop heroism, electronic legend and FBI fumbling, steps the Seattle Flag with an authentic, first-person, totally exclusive interview with D.B. Cooper himself!

Elsewhere in this issue we have explained something about how that worldwide scoop was obtained, and the lengths to which the Flag is prepared to go to protect the anonymity of "D.B. Cooper". In no way do we either condone or condemn Cooper's crime; our task is to simply report the news, from any viable source.

All we promised, in return for this interview, was that we would under no circumstances— including grand jury [text cut off at bottom of column]

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©1972 Seattle Flag; all rights reserved

[...continues mid-sentence] part, it came completely by accident. The Flag has spent considerable effort verifying the interview—we have yet to find a flaw. With the missing 20 dollar bill which the interviewer supplied, we must conclude that what you are about to read is the only authentic interview with D.B. Cooper in existence.

Let us begin.

ANONYMOUS INTERVIEWER: The pictures in the paper don't do you justice.

COOPER: My sentiments exactly. It's funny what eyewitnesses don't see. They were fifteen pounds and two inches off. And that artist's picture stunk. If I were a vain man, I'd sue him for libel. But I've got no reason to complain...

ANON: Why are you here, of all places? COOPER: Why not?

ANON: Well, the papers say you're in Mexico, or South America.

COOPER: And that's where the authorities are looking, right? You don't escape just by crossing borders; look at James Earl Ray. The trick is not to be where they think you'll be. For instance, they didn't expect anyone to hijack a plane in the Northwest, and they didn't expect a parachutist, and... well, I'm sure you catch my drift. I'm not in Mexico or South America yet, so don't believe everything you read in the papers.

ANON: How long did it take you to plan the skyjacking?

COOPER: A year, six months. I had the notion for a long time, but I didn't start the ground work until June. Something happened which made me think it was time to do it.

ANON: What was that? COOPER: Skip it. It would take too long to explain.

ANON: Tell us how you got the idea.

COOPER: It came to me while I was watching TV. Hijackers before me had always been first class fools. Can you imagine anything more stupid than risking the death penalty because you want to go to Cuba right now? Hell, you want to go to Cuba, charter a boat, or go to Mexico. Their airline isn't so bad.

These guys who get so worked up about politics are sick.

Me, I wanted money. Doing it for money [is some...] [text cut off at bottom of column]

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[...continues from prior column] Ok yes, and I also put the torch to an annual report from Northwest Airlines with an adorable picture of Donald W. Nyrop in it. He's their president.

ANON: Didn't your family get suspicious? COOPER: I don't have a family.

ANON: What about your friends? COOPER: I don't have friends.

ANON: What I've been dying to ask you is, what it felt like to step off the back stairs of a monster going 200 MPH?

COOPER: Scarey. ANON: Just Scarey?

COOPER: No, VERY scarey. Also cold, dark, and windy.

ANON: Can you give us some more details? COOPER: I just did.

ANON: I mean, uh, more step by step description...

COOPER: Well, as you know, once I activated the stairs and the back door it was fucking cold. Below zero, I think I read. I had prepared myself as much as you can with gloves and long johns, but there's a limit to how much protection you can bring along on a business flight from Portland to Seattle. (laughing) It would have been a bit suspicious if I had come aboard in heavy boots, with Eddie Bauer sub-artic gear and a sports chute. I would have had quite a time fitting into [illegible].

ANON: I guess so, but did you, back on the subject, jump immediately after you opened the door?

COOPER: Hell, no. That would have been a very dead giveaway. I had to wait until I was over my touchdown area. This is where the FBI screwed up.

At the "appropriate" time I went back past all those empty seats to the stairs, Christ, it was noisy. Next time I'll have something better than kleenex for ear plugs. I tried to walk down all the stairs. About the tenth step, I think it was, I stepped off. It was all wind and gravity after that.

ANON: Were you aware that planes were following the Northwest 727?

COOPER: Yes, I couldn't see them in the plane or during my fall, but there is NO way I could miss hearing them once I bailed out. Knowing how close McChord is to Sea-Tac, I would have had to be awfully stupid not to figure on having company as we flew south down Vector 23. It was a calculated risk. That is why I jumped in bad weather and at night. And I suppose I waited just a little [text cut off at bottom of column]