On November 24, 1971, an unknown man entered Portland International Airport.
Well-dressed in a dark suit and pressed white shirt, he purchased a ticket for Flight 305, a half-hour trip to Washington. He went by the fake name Dan Cooper.
Cooper boarded the flight, which proceeded to take off on schedule. Soon after, he passed a note to the flight attendant closest to him. She opened the note, which revealed that Cooper had a bomb and would use it if necessary.
At Cooper’s request, the attendant sat next to him. He showed her the bomb inside his briefcase, made of eight red cylinders attached to a large battery, and demanded $200K in “negotiable American currency” and 4 parachutes.
The attendant relayed Cooper’s demands to the plane’s pilot, who received authorization from the airline’s President to cooperate fully with the hijacker.
Once his demands were met, the plane landed and Cooper received his money. After releasing the flight’s passengers, he ordered the plane back into the air, during which time he parachuted out of the craft.
Despite a substantial amount of evidence and numerous eye-witness testimonies, Cooper was never found or identified. In their search for the hijacker, the FBI processed more than 1000 suspects.
Though the case is still open, many believe Cooper to be dead.
