Part 63, page 104

Transcript

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

[par]or said that the witnesses description were off [ab]ut fifteen pounds and a couple of inches. Also that [li]st's impression were very poor. When asked why [i]s still in Washington state he added that he felt safer to hide where no one would imagine him to [h]er then to go to some place like Mexico or South [A]merica where the authorities would naturally expect him

[s]aid he started actual work on his skyjacking plan [J]une . The idea had come to him while he was [w]atching T.V. He figured that skyjackers before him had [b]ools - with their hijacking planes to go to Cuba, risking the death penalty when all they had to do [ch]arter a boat or go to Mexico and take a plane here! · [s]tated that he did it for the money, realizing that [s]wer w[illegible]not merely how to get it but rather how away [illegible]t. After making extensive preparations [des]troyed hundreds of timetables, graphs, aircraft [pl]ans, weather reports and pages of notes. He felt he had done enough preparations to be worth 200,000

described jumping from a jet going 200 miles an[hour] [a]s being cold, dark, loud, windy and scarey, very [illegible] [h]ad prepared to some extent with long underwear [gl]oves but in order to remain unnoticed onboard the he had to sacrifice some elements of comfort. [H]e activated the stairs and opened the back door [b]efore he has over the touchdown area to confuse [F].B.I.....Finally using Kleenex for earplugs he [s]tepped down to the tenth step and stepped off into the of the wind and gravity...In the darkness he heard [en]gines of the following planes. But he realized that

worked at Boeing's on the construction of the first Boeing 727 in 1963 and got to know the 727 from the inside out. The reason he was attracted to the plan was the alignment of the three Pratt & Whitney engines two on the sides of the rear fuselage and the third at the base of the T-tail assembly. Also the down-flaps stalling speed. One hundred and nine miles per hour which was risky but jumpable, Then also he took into account the small crew: Three on the flight deck and the three stewardesses. Two central galleys and the wardrobes with the two toilets to the rear, figuring that they might come in handy as a place to hold a stewardess hostage.

THE ACUTAL JUMP

First the briefcase bomb was only real in the sense that it worked, it was constructed of gillette shaving cream cans, painted red and rigged up with prima-cord fuses. When he flashed them to the stewardesses they carried out his instructions because they were well-indoctrinated and thoroughly trained. Also they obeyed instructions from Mr. Nyrop of the head of Northwest. Nyrop figured that it was easier to pay a mere 200,000 than to risk four lives and a $5 million dollar airplane. Cooper could smell xeros fluid on the money and knew that the twenties had been duplicated. He stayed close to his original plan, only having one nervous moment when he was still negotiating on the ground at Sea-Tac airport. The fueling was being stalled, and he was getting edgy, figuring someone was planning some kind of stragey in an effort to shoot him or some- thing. One of the pilots brought out the money and the

He figured if the F.B.I. was going to make a move it would be at Sea-Tac. Everybody but the stewardess he was holding hostage and the three man crew was clear of the plane. Buzzing the cockpit he asked the captain what the hold-up was. Trouble with the vapor lock was the answer. And another truck was coming. Cooper told the Captain: "Not more than one fuel truck at a time" but eventually five fuel trucks came out, only three of which were able to deliver. Cooper almost blew his cool, he went forward to the cockpit and told the captain it was take off time, and to take the plane to Mexico. The plane was again airborn at 7:40 pm four hours and fourty two minutes after leaving Portland. The parachutes were unacceptable so he decided to jump without a reserve chute.. he cut the extra chute up and used the strips to tie the money to his waist. Next he took the stewardess forward and ordered the captain to lock the door from the inside. Then he returned aft, closing the first class and tourist compartments behind him. Then he got on the intercom and told the captain to hold the aircraft at 7,000 feet, and speed at 200 miles per hour. Last he ordered that nobody, under any circumstances, was to attempt to make any further contact with him. Shortly after he jumped. Cooper declared to the reporter that he was going to retire the night of the interview and head to an undis- closed destination. He said he would be back in Five years, thanks to "The Statue of Limitations!"

.....by Mike Noble

---

YOU SAY YOU WANT A LICENSE TO KILL? THIS IS MOST IRREGULAR... DO YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE? LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION? [illegible] WELL, I'VE GOT MY PORTFOLIO IF YA WANNA LOOK AT IT... AMM