Part 54, page 76

Transcript

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

(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

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Bills Eyed For Prints

By ROLLA J. CRICK and JAMES LONG Journal Staff Writers

A former Southwest Washington skydiver reportedly is being sought for questioning by the FBI in connection with Wednesday's $200,000 hijacking of a Northwest Airlines passenger plane in which the bandit escaped by parachute.

The FBI at Seattle would not comment on its case, but information received from other sources indicated the federal agency is checking out the skydiver report.

According to information obtained by The Journal, the unidentified skydiver practiced with a group within the past year at Frink Airstrip about eight miles north of Vancouver, Wash., and at Goldhin Air Park about eight miles north of Frink.

BOTH AIRPORTS are on the standard "Victor 23" airline route between Seattle and Portland, and the path followed by Northwest Flight 305 after it departed Seattle-Tacoma Airport with the hijacker and his loot.

The last voice contact between the plane's crew and the hijacker came at 8:13 p.m. Wednesday near Ariel, Wash., according to authorities. The three airports are a few minutes flying time south of Ariel.

"A slight shift" in the balance of the hijacked jetliner was reported as a prime factor in the reason for the search near Ariel, according to the FBI.

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THE MOVEMENT was so indefinite that the pilot could not identify it as the result of air turbulence or the exit from the plane of the hijacker. But, the hijacker never answered the crew's attempts to communicate with him after that moment.

The mental picture conjured up in the minds of authorities is that of the hijacker standing on the rear steps of the aircraft as it moved along at 210 miles an hour, 7,000 feet above the generally wooded area and stepping off into space at the precise moment the "slight shift" was noticed.

He weighed 170 to 175 pounds, according to the passengers he released at Seattle, and that weight on the steps of the plane in the air would have been like the pressure on the far end of a lever.

THE AIRCRAFT flew near stalling speed from Seattle toward Reno and thus the pilot was extremely sensitive to it[s] attitudes.

The actual flight path, as confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration, was along the airways known as Victor 23 as far as Red Bluff, Calif., then almost due east to Reno. From Seattle, the jet moved direct to a position over Mayfield, Wash., three miles southeast of Toledo, then passed over the Portland, Eugene and Medford radio navigation markers, thence to the Fort Jones, Calif., intersection west of Mt. Shasta to Red Bluff. There it turned toward Reno.

There were two Air Force chase planes behind the jet as it left Seattle, but their pilots did not see the exit of the hijacker in the rainy darkness. It was believed unlikely that their radars would have picked up the parachute as it dropped.

THE REAR DOOR of the jet was closed when the plane left Seattle, but after it was air-borne the hijacker, according to the crew, closed the door between himself and the [crew] the control c[abin] the door to t[he] He then low[ered] pushing the p[anel] It was not [clear] hijacker instr[ucted] fly the jet at

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(Indicate page, newspaper, city and state.)

THE OREGON JOURNAL PORTLAND, OREGON

Date: 11/26/71, pg. 1 Edition: Author: Editor: Title:

Character: or Classi[fication]: [Submitting] [office] [or]:

[illegible]

2.a.G [illegible]

DB Cooper-23002