Sleep less in Seattle

It is a story that just about everyone has heard about.

Not so much a story now, some 44 years on, but rather a legend.

It was, and still remains, of course a crime of aerial hijacking and for some 8 hours and 23 minutes the crew and passengers of a commercial airliner were in fear for their lives.

I was fascinated by the tale when I was young but it is one of those things that just gets filed away in the memory banks as you get older and much more important issues take precedent. It does not take much to retrieve though and the catalyst recently was the use of the identity of the perpetrator in the US TV series, Prison Break. The character portrayed was, in my opinion, quite plausible being unassuming, quiet and enigmatic although little is actually known about the hijacker apart from a name Dan Cooper and a photofit picture drawn up by the victims on the plane.

The event took place on 24th November 1971 on an internal flight by North West Orient Airlines from Portland, Oregon to Seattle in Washington State.

A one way ticket was purchased for $20US by a Dan Cooper. On first impression he was .by his suited attire and briefcase, a businessman on a trip between cities.

It was a typical early winters day for that part of the country with mist, cloud and rain. In the days before automated travellators and covered gates extending directly to the fuselage it was a case of ground-staff issuing umbrellas to the passengers for the short walk across the tarmac to the aircraft, designated NWO-305.

Mr Cooper took up his seat towards the rear of the aircraft, put on dark glasses and ordered a whisky and soda before lighting up a cigarette.

The stewardess was beckoned by the man and given a piece of paper. Being busy and also thinking that the note was an attempted chat-up by the suave looking passenger the stewardess put it straight into her apron pocket. The plane was hurtling down the runway and in the air when Cooper advised the stewardess that she had better read and take in the contents of the note.

After reading she had no option but to take it hurriedly but calmly to the cockpit.

The Captain found the content straight to the point along the lines of "You are being hijacked, no funny business. I want $200,000 US and four parachutes to be brought aboard upon landing in Seattle".

All through the period of peril none of the flight crew actually saw Cooper.

The Chief Stewardess was the go-between and a junior member of the attendants was required to sit alongside as a hostage. They testified to the briefcase on Cooper's lap containing electrical wires, battery and eight red sticks assumed to be explosives.

The situation was reported on radio to Seattle Air Traffic Control and after a few tense minutes, which must have seemed like a lifetime to those involved, confirmation was given that the money and parachutes would be waiting at the arrivals gate.

To the 3 crew on the flight deck the plan of the hijacker seemed clear. When in possession of the money and the passengers released, as agreed, the four parachutes would enable Cooper along with his captives to ditch the plane. If the FBI were planning to sabotage the parachutes then this would backfire as all of them would have to be tampered with therefore putting innocent lives at risk.

The news of the hijack must have been leaked to the public as there was a large throng of spectators at the Seattle Airport Terminal with a prime vantage point as flight 305 landed.

The Captain, fearful that the  threatened detonation so close to the buildings could inflict significant casualties, decided to taxi past and park up on the periphery of the airport.

Three to four Bags containing the $200,000 ransom, specified to be in $20 US notes, in todays money about $1 million US, had to be lugged on board by the female junior attendant as well as the four heavy and bulky parachutes.

On take off to the new destination of Mexico there were only crew on board with Cooper.

Instructions were given to fly low and slow which suggested to the crew that the hijacker was indeed planning to jump.

The junior member of the crew appeared in the cockpit having been released and the intercom crackled with an angry and frustrated voice complaining that the rear door and steps would not deploy. The Captain could barely hear the words over the sound of wind from the back of the plane but reassured Cooper that if the plane slowed a bit then the steps would lower easily.

Warning lights on the cockpit display acknowledged that the steps were down in position and a bump sound was taken to be the departure of the hijacker and his ill gotten gains into the open skies.

In an attempt to pinpoint the location of the jumper the position of the plane was confirmed to the Authorities and a manhunt began immediately on the ground.

No trace was found in the rugged terrain on the county line between North Oregon and South Washington State. Dan Cooper, or as he became known, D B Cooper had disappeared completely.

The case remains open today amongst considerable speculation and fantasy about the fate of the audacious hijacker.

Those who know the remote territory into which the parachutes will have fallen are of the opinion that D B Cooper perished as an explanation for the absence of any trail of either the man or the money.

Those who were held for the 8 or so hours and the investigators of the crime still clearly recall the trauma of the experience not helped by the fact that the legend continues to live on.