Part 53, page 42

Transcript

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

[illegible] people. The gov[ernment] [g]ive him a light angry, was de- [scrip]t the Italian the death sen- [ten]sed for hijack- inichiello, now [phot]ographed hap- [illegible]ome presum- [ably]

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But where to go if you're not Italian? You can always just disappear.

THE SAGA OF D.B. COOPER

That's what the last, most efficient hijacker, "D.B. Cooper," did.

D.B., the first (but probably not the last) of a new breed of Disappearing Hi- jackers, got on a Northwest flight in Portland, Oregon. Later, a passenger who was sitting across from him noted that he was "quite relaxed." It was the night of November 24th. The plane, a Boeing 727, was on the last leg of its flight. It had been in Minneapolis and Montana and was due to go from Port- land to Spokane.

D.B., our hero, showed the stewardess a briefcase containing two red cylinders and wires. He told her he would blow up the aircraft unless he got $200,000 and four parachutes.

The plane stopped at Seattle. It was refueled and the passengers disem- barked. The $200,000 was rounded up along with two military-model para- chutes.

He refused to take them. He wanted sporting models. The difference? The sporting models were opened manually. The military models opened automatic- ally after 200 feet of fall. If you wanted

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NOV. 29 — DE 1971

CONGRATULATIONS! D.B. COOPER

MON. TUE. DAD'S CLUB WED. THURS. POPS CONCERT FRIDAY BB STARTS GRANT[illegible] SAT. BASKETBALL WRESTLING TOURNE[Y]

EXECUTIVE

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While the F.B.I. scrabbles for clues, America canonizes its new patron saint of system-fucking: D.B. Cooper, where are you?

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to fall free in the night air, not be a white moving target, floating and visi- ble, you needed a sporting parachute.

He got two.

He instructed the plane to take off. He knew the parachutes would be good. He had a stewardess beside him. They knew he could take her with him when he jumped.

He had chosen a 727 because the 727 is the only kind of commercial jet from which it is safe to parachute. He had told them to go to Mexico but they asked them to to go Mexico but they permit it so he instructed them to go to Reno. He told them the plane was to keep below 10,000 feet and that the rear exit was to be left open.

When the plane took off he locked the crew in the cockpit. He had the en- tire cabin to himself.

When the plane landed in Reno, D.B. was gone. So were the two parachutes. So was the briefcase with the possible explosives.

So was $200,000.

The good people of Seattle did not organize a posse as they had years ago for a horsethief. He who steals a horse is a villain. He who steals a car is a thief. But he who steals a plane and $200,000 and leaps out into the night sky is a hero.

The New York Times noted on De- cember 19th, in a story sent from Seat- tle, that the name D.B. Cooper is ad- vancing in notoriety on the names Jesse James and Black Bart.

Allen King of the Alpine Silk Screen Products of Portland, brought out D.B. COOPER WHERE ARE YOU? T-shirts and quickly sold 3,000 of them, sending them to far-flung admirers in Houston, Los Angeles and New York.

A letter signed D.B. Cooper was sent to The New York Times, The Washing- ton Post and The Los Angeles Times. It read:

SIRS:

I knew from the start that I wouldn't be caught.

I didn't rob Northwest Orient be- cause I thought it would be roman- tic, heroic or any of the other euphe- misms that seem to attach themselves to situations of high risk.

I'm no modern day Robin Hood. Unfortunately I have only 14 months to live.

My life has been one of hate, tur- moil, hunger and more hate, this seemed to be the fastest and most profitable way to gain a few fast grains of [guess: peace] of mind.

He informed the authorities that he would be hard to spot. He told them:

"I [left] no [fingerprints] [guess: I wore] a toupee. I wore putty makeup."

The FBI is studying the letter careful- ly. It seems they have a lot to learn. Maybe they should wear toupees an[d] putty makeup.

Meanwhile in Seattle, a bowling al[ley] has advertised a D.B. Cooper bowl[ing] sweepstakes.

With ca[se] [guess: number] Cooper-22380