This story is total BS.
The story itself gives it away as BS.
So his associates on the ground were waiting for him when he jumped?
Tell me how they knew where he would land?
How did he know where he was?
Even a highly skilled civilian pilot who knows exactly where he is at any given moment would not have the information on winds aloft accurately enough to land on a targeted spot.
True that an experienced pilot knows exactly what the winds are at his altitude, but wind varies significantly both in speed and direction between jet flight levels and the ground.
For that information one needs very careful briefing from a meteorologist.
For Cooper to land at the spot where his cohorts waited, the pilots and air traffic control would have to be a part of the scheme so the flight path and the altitude would be exact and the jump would occur at the exact instant required.
I am surprised that someone who did or does night jumps in the military has not commented on this story.
So when the telling of this tall tale says his guys were waiting for him on the ground with their pickup,,,,,,,
>> I am surprised that someone who did or does night jumps in the military has not commented on this story.
Have done it. Even during the daytime spotting (choosing your exit point) can be difficult.
The way it is (or was) typically done (non combat, non-hijacking situation) is roughly like this: you throw something out of the plane at opening altitude when you are directly over the spot where you want to land. (Can’t remember what it is. Sorry, it’s been awhile. Cloth/flag?) Then you watch where it lands and calculate based on that. For example if it lands 1 mile north of the drop zone, the exit point of the aircraft is 1 mile south of the drop zone (because you will drift north 1 mile under canopy).
Lots of other assorted factors involved. If you have a long freefall, the winds aloft can affect your landing point. Winds aloft can be in different directions than surface winds. A good square parachute can make up for a lot of errors due to its forward velocity, so there is some leeway, but there are obviously limits. You get some momentum in the direction of the aircraft travel when you exit (i.e., if the aircraft is moving at west at X mph when you jump, then you continue moving west at X mph until you are slowed by wind resistance. Or until you open the canopy.)
I don’t remember ever reading about how fast the plane was going when Cooper jumped. Or whether he obtained wind info, or was able to dictate to the pilot the flight path for an exact exit point. Or whether he did any calculations. Or whether he did any spotting. I am not picturing him hanging out the open door waiting for the right moment to jump, but maybe he did. It’s been a long time since I’ve read the stories.)
During optimal daylight conditions, I’ve seen jumpers land MILES from the drop zone. Not super often, but it’s happened to me (when someone else was spotting).
I can’t remember what we did for night jumps, but I do remember getting wind info from the tower, particularly because of one memorable jump where we were pretty far off and the spotter blamed it on bad info from the tower. (Pretty sure it was a bad spot and that was a face-saving excuse.)
The point is, making a pinpoint landing at night, without excellent wind info, would be extremely difficult. Anyone who was able to pull this off would have to be a very experienced jumper. Even then it would be very challenging.
It seems unlikely to me that a very experienced jumper who suddenly vanished would not be noticed by his fellow jumpers. (Whatever happened to X who used to jump with us all the time and ever since that hijacking we haven’t seen him?)
So, IMO, if Cooper was experienced enough to pull this off (with a pinpoint landing) then he would probably have been noticed as missing. If he was not an experienced jumper, then he would be unlikely to be able to land precisely where he wanted to.