Part 4, page 20

Transcript

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

[partially illegible top margin] ...head splattered by a shotgun. An FBI marksman did that, it said in the papers. Some marksman. He let fly at about sixteen inches with buckshot. J. Edgar should give that agent a medal, if he hasn't already. ANON: Speaking of the FBI, aren't you worried that the Bureau is going to search every inch of ground between Seattle and Reno to find you? COOPER: Happy Trails. ANON: Aren't you afraid that they'll trace you through your skydiving experience or some of those 21 pounds of twenties you got from Northwest? COOPER: WHAT skydiving experience? WHAT 21 pounds of twenties? It requires very few smarts to guess that anybody who can pull the first skydive from a commercial jet-- in the dead of night, free-falling with 200 grand strapped around his gut, wearing street clothes and low-cut shoes--knows his ass from a D-ring, so to speak. Sure, I've done a lot of skydiving over the [continues below / cut off]

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*Our Scoop*

The Flag's editor was first approached in late March by a friend of a staffer who claimed to have an interview with the infamous D.B. Cooper. In defiance of expectations, we met an ordinary looking man of 20 plus years who said he had a taped conversation with D.B. Cooper. On the chance it might bear fruit we accompanied him to an office where he brought out a tape recorder and photograph. Before we were allowed access to either we signed an agreement of confidentiality.

It stated that under no conditions could we divulge our source, that we were not allowed to print the interview before the 1st of May, that after transcription the tape must be destroyed, in addition we agreed not to cooperate in any way with local police authorities.

All these conditions were quite amenable. But the next one required $1000 cash. Before agreeing to say goodbye to real unmarked money we asked to see some proof, Clifford Irving still fresh in our minds. It was then that our source turned

over the picture and we saw a photograph of a twenty. "This bill," he said, "used to be in a local bank, then it was pulled out of a vault on Wednesday, the 24th of November, put in a case and taken to Seatac where it was delivered to D.B. Cooper, who some time later bailed out of a Northwest 727 with it in a sack tied to his body. There is no other way it could have gotten here without my meeting and talking to Cooper himself."

After calling a bank to verify, we met all the stated conditions.

Later, when we had heard the tape and realized just how great it was, we asked our anonymous source why he came to us. Well, the PI was out, it seems, because they were offering $5,000 for his head. The Times was considered untrustworthy. And all the television stations would have required a tape from which voice prints could be made. The Flag was the last resort.

We have not seen him since, but we assume he will pick up a copy of this issue.

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ANON: May I ask why you picked on Northwest? Did you have a grudge against that airline or something? COOPER: No, I had nothing against Northwest at all, far from it. They happen to be my very favorite airline right now. But I did know that Northwest is one of the biggest profit-makers of all the airlines, and that they could raise the $200,000 fast. I was sure Northwest could get the money for me even if Flight 305 got in from Portland after the banks had closed for the day. And there were other considerations, too. There had never been a real skyjack at Seattle, and Northwest definitely does not have what I would call a "take me to [Katmandu]" [continues / cut off at column break]

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ANON: Did you anywhere along the line improvise during the skyjack itself or did you stick to your original game plan? COOPER: I tried to stay pretty loose, ready to adjust to any situation that might pop up. As it turned out, everything followed my script almost to the letter. There was one pretty bad moment, though, that I hadn't planned for. (Long pause.) ANON: That being...? COOPER: It happened while we were still negotiating on the ground at Sea-Tac. I was getting pretty antsy anyhow, since the refueling was not being done and guessed somebody was doing a lot of stalling, planning some kind of strategy or hoping to get a man in close enough to sharpshoot me. That had happened to some poor boob back east the week before so I was edgy. The chief pilot of Northwest drove out on the grinder with the ransom money and the two parachutes I had ordered. One of the stewardesses--I was holding another as hostage, in the rear of the passenger cabin, back by the port latrine--came back with the money in a white canvas bag. I checked out the loot, [first checking / illegible], before, I could smell the Xerox on those 200 big ones, but as long as they were the real thing and not photo-copies, I was satisfied. Then the stew made two more trips outside onto the runway to bring in the 'chutes. It was at this point that Captain Scott cut in on the cabin intercom. "The first fuel truck is here," is what he said.

Peeking through one of the cabin windows I could see the refueling truck crewmen at the fueling point, at the underside of the starboard wing at mid-span. The statistics, from my Boeing days and homework, clicked in my head: standard fuel capacity for the 727-100 is precisely 7,174 gallons. That's U.S. Gallons. I was convinced we'd need every drop of it--including most of the fumes, where we were heading.

ANON: And where was that...? COOPER: Mexico. (Clears his throat loudly.) Or at least that's where I wanted them to think I was taking them.

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COOPER: Would it make a better story for you if I did? ANON: No. But other lines fly the 727, don't they...? COOPER: No, I had nothing against Northwest at all, far from it. They happen to be my very favorite airline right now. But I did know that Northwest is one of the biggest profit-makers of all the airlines, and that they could raise the $200,000 fast. I was sure Northwest could get the money for me even if Flight 305 got in from Portland after the banks had closed for the day. [continues — duplicate/overlap with section 3, different column placement]

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"Take me to Katmandu."