Anderson reflected on the hijacking when he boarded a Boeing 727, the same model that Cooper jumped from, at the World Freefall Convention in Quincy, Illinois, in the mid-1990s. Anderson explained the instructions jumpers received before boarding for the four-minute ride to altitude this way: “We were instructed to be completely geared up before boarding; helmets on and goggles on. We all had to make sure all our gear—closing flaps, riser covers, shoes, shoelaces—were completely secure.”
Jumpers at the convention had a choice of exiting on a slow pass of 134 knots or a fast pass of 182 knots. Anderson says “I went on the slow pass at 155 miles per hour. The aft stairway was removed. I was surprised how small the opening was. You couldn’t get two people to jump together.”
Jumpers were advised to exit with arms and legs in, almost in a fetal position. Nonetheless, the exit was much different from what Anderson expected, and he was caught off guard. “The first thing you noticed after exit was the heat from the jet engines and the smell of jet fuel. There was a dead void, then the blast from jet steam. It felt like I was being tackled from behind.”
Over several years, Anderson made a total of six jet jumps. “During the first jump I had to fight to settle down and get stable after exit. It took me a good 1,000 feet to get stable. [Successive] jumps were no problem once you knew what to expect.”
http://parachutistonline.com/feature/secrets-db-cooper-part-two-evidence-absence
At Perris Valley Skydiving in California, Ted Farnsworth also jumped a jetliner, though it was a DC-9 with the aft stairs intact. He said, “You could stand on the stairs and not be knocked off. While it is turbulent on the stairs, the stairs themselves protect you from the direct windblast.” Even with 30 years of skydiving experience, Farnsworth said, “I was shocked at the force of the exit and surprised how unstable I was. It felt like falling face first 10 feet onto a mattress.”
Thanks for the info. I remember the Black Hats told us you don’t jump from a C140. You stand about 5 feet back and when the jump master tells you to one just walks toward the door. You get sucked out. I can see how jumping from a rear stair it would be different as you would go into the relatively protected air behind the plane.