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Quick answers
Who was D.B. Cooper?
An unidentified man who used the ticket name Dan Cooper on Northwest Orient Flight 305 on 24 November 1971. D.B. Cooper is a press error that stuck. No one was convicted. The FBI suspended the case in 2016.
What did he demand and receive?
He demanded $200,000 and four parachutes. Northwest Orient delivered that sum in $20 bills whose serial numbers were recorded, plus the chutes, at Seattle-Tacoma before the passengers were released.
Where did he leave the aircraft?
After the Seattle departure, over southwestern Washington, using the Boeing 727’s aft airstairs. The FBI’s first search box centred near Ariel; later wind models widened the corridor. No confirmed landing site was found.
Was any of the ransom found?
Yes. On 10 February 1980 Brian Ingram found about $5,800 in deteriorating $20 bills on Tena Bar, a Columbia River beach near Vancouver, Washington. The FBI matched serial numbers to the ransom list. The rest of the money remains unaccounted for.
Did the FBI identify a suspect?
The Bureau investigated thousands of names and publicly discussed several persons of interest. None was charged as Cooper. Richard McCoy, a 1972 hijacker, was a recurring comparison and was not adopted as the Flight 305 jumper.
Why is the case still unsolved?
No body, unused chute or unused ransom cache was authenticated. Witnesses aged. The 1980 river find did not lead to a person. In 2016 the FBI said active investigation was no longer justified.
The story that can be told from the public record is a Portland boarding, a Seattle ransom and an empty aft stairwell at Reno.
The story American culture prefers is a folk leap into timber. This page keeps the flight number, the recorded bills and the unsolved file.
Beats
- A one-way ticket at Portland
Dan Cooper paid cash for Flight 305, sat aft and, after takeoff, presented a threat the crew treated as a bomb. The demand was money and parachutes, not a diversion to another country at that moment.
- Seattle exchange
The 727 held over Puget Sound until Northwest and the FBI produced $200,000 and four chutes. Passengers left at Sea-Tac. Four crew stayed.
- The night jump
Cooper ordered a southbound flight with gear and flaps down. Crew readings later marked a departure from the aft stairs over southwestern Washington. He was not on the aircraft at Reno.
- NORJAK
The FBI logged serial numbers, searched timber and interviewed widely. The composite sketch became more famous than any charging paper.
- Tena Bar and a closed file
A 1980 river find proved some bills had left Cooper’s bag and reached the Columbia. It did not name him. In 2016 the Bureau stopped active work.
The story that remains honest is unsolved. The nickname is a headline, not a verdict.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.