Part 53, page 10

Transcript

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

The FBI has been in the past going on the theory Cooper-is-dead, having been killed during his dramatic plunge from the low-flying 727 jet possibly in Southwest Washington, where major search efforts have centered.

Previous theories about how the hijacker got the name of D.B. Cooper were mainly that he may have selected it at random from the telephone directory in Portland, where he boarded his dream flight Thanks- giving afternoon, 1971.

There was, and still is, a Dan Cooper listed in the Portland book. There wasn't, and still isn't, a D.B. Cooper listed. (Seattle's 1971 directory had one Dan and two D.B.'s.)

Cooper, who at 3:22 p.m. on Northwest Orient Air- lines flight No. 305 en route to Seattle, pulled out a supposedly bomb-rigged briefcase, demanded $200,000 ransom for the 36 passengers and went on to become a folk hero in absentia — inspiring D.B. Cooper T-shirts and a ballad even — is now described by the FBI as speaking:

"Low . . . intelligently (with) no particular accent, possibly from the Midwest section of the United States."

The FBI also says he was "very polite at all times," as anyone with a bomb and a $200,000 gift might be.

Federal agents also now are looking for a new Cooper that is at least an inch shorter than the pre- viously reported height of 6-1; he's now 5-10 to 6-0.

Some similarities between D.B. and Dan remain — age in the middle 40's, white, male, complexion of "Olive, Latin appearance, medium smooth," and he is, or was, a "heavy smoker of Raleigh filter-tip ciga- rettes," the ones with the bonus coupons.

Last seen, Cooper was cuddling up to $200,000 in marked $20-bills and four parachutes in the rear of the 727 heading slowly towards Reno, where, the FBI Bulle- tin explains:

". . . When the plane landed, it was determined that Cooper, two parachutes, and the ransom money, had disappeared."

Which is to say he jumped.

Into history, maybe into hiding, possibly into his grave.

Whatever, it was his big moment. And somebody messed up on the name.

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DB Cooper-22348