Part 63, page 159

Transcript

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

D. B. COOPER Continued from Page 7

dollar bills delivered to him at Seattle in a laundry sack along with two sets of parachutes. Otherwise he would blow up the plane.

According to Bill Hawkes, assistant chief in the Seattle-Tacoma Airport Tower, the first indication they had of the trouble was when the captain radioed he had "a little trouble in the cockpit." While the plane circled Seattle for two and one-half hours, the $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills was collected from several Seattle banks and the parachutes were obtained from nearby McCord Air Force Base. The hijacker refused to let the plane land until the money, the parachutes and a fuel truck were ready and waiting.

Newspaper accounts say that during this time Captain Scott negotiated with the hijacker. But from later reports it seems evident/that there was little negotiation on Cooper's part. He wanted the money, the parachutes, and transportation to Mexico. When these were ready and waiting he would allow the airplane to land and park in a remote section of the airport to be refueled. Then, when the money was on board, the passengers and two of the stewardesses could deplane; after which, they would depart immediately.

Captain Scott apparently did not alarm his passengers. Later Assistant U. S. Attorney Larry Finegold, one of the passengers, told newsmen that they were informed by the crew that there were some minor difficulties.

"Then we saw they were dumping gas and I thought there was some landing gear problem," Finegold said. "After we landed, I saw this gas truck drive up and I thought to myself, 'Why don't they get us off first?' I then saw the money bag being handed over and I realized that there had been a hijack."

The plane was parked in a remote

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section of the airport and the passengers were required to walk a distance to a bus since the hijacker wouldn't allow the vehicle near the aircraft. Landings and takeoffs were delayed while the passengers walked across the runway to the waiting bus.

Route of Flight Selected by the Captain

Reports are a little vague about the sequence of events but the FBI firmly states that Cooper's requested destination was Mexico City. When he was told by Captain Scott that the plane could not fly there without refueling, the hijacker suggested a stop at Yuma, Arizona. The Captain's reply was that even Yuma was beyond the range of the 727, but that he could safely make Reno, Nevada. Cooper apparently agreed to this destination

and according to the FBI, allowed the Captain to select the route of flight. However at some point in the discussion, the hijacker specifically told the Captain that he was to fly at an altitude of 10,000 feet, at a speed of 200 miles per hour with 15 degrees of flaps extended. These conditions limited the range of the aircraft and of course led everyone to believe that he had no real interest in Mexico City but planned to parachute out at some point along the way.

After takeoff, Cooper locked the three pilots and stewardess Muchlow in the cockpit and remained alone in the cabin of the aircraft. The Boeing 727 is one of the few commercial airliners with a rear exit with retractable stairs. In the lowered position these steps are well below the plane and a parachutist would have no difficulty clearing the fuselage. The Captain was instructed to unlock the rear stairs and leave the cabin in darkness.

There are lights in the cockpit to

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indicate the position of the stairs. But twenty minutes after departure the Captain became aware that Cooper was extending the stairs.

"Anything we can do for you?" the Captain called back over the plane's interphone.

There was no answer but a few seconds later another light flashed in the cockpit indicating the ramp was fully extended. Then Cooper came on the interphone and answered a brief, "No." That was the last that was heard from him.

Approximately three hours later when the plane landed

in Reno, Cooper, the money, two parachutes, the briefcase containing the bomb, some food rations and part of a third parachute were missing.

The skyjacker had carefully reclaimed his note from the stewardess and left no fingerprints. The ramp was still extended.

The Search Begins

Police with dogs searched the darkened runways of the Reno airport, a residential section, and desert area nearby after the plane landed, without result. FBI agent Harold Campbell stated the next day that there was no way the hijacker could have escaped after the plane landed. At that time he speculated that the man may have parachuted out over the broad flatlands of the Willamette Valley.

Newsmen were hindered by a complete blackout of information from Northwest Airlines employees. Walter Hellman, public relations vice president, blamed it on the FBI and FAA saying that Northwest had been instructed to make no statements until the crew had been debriefed.

While agent Campbell may have had some doubts about where Cooper DB Cooper-26562