Posted on 11/24/2011 4:52:50 AM PST by Morgana
This Thanksgiving marks the 40th anniversary of a legendary Northwest crime.
In 1971 skyjacker DB Cooper parachuted into the night sky over Washington and vanished.
Now, FBI agents have something they don’t often get in a 40-year-old criminal case: new physical evidence.
It comes from the clip-on tie left behind on the hijacked plane from the man known as DB Cooper.
For three years a team of private scientists has been studying evidence from the Cooper case, at the invitation of the Seattle office of the FBI.
“One of the most notable particles that we’ve found, that had us the most excited, was titanium metal,” said lead scientist Tom Kaye.
He said the team identified the titanium on Cooper’s tie using an electron microscope.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
All of the DC-9 derivatives after that had a special device installed that we jokingly called the “D.B. Cooper Handle” as it was designed to deter this from happening again.
All of the DC-9 derivatives after that had a special device installed that we jokingly called the “D.B. Cooper Handle” as it was designed to deter this from happening again.
He jumped from a Boeing 727.
>> “He jumped from over 10,000ft, in November, in the NE, into forest, at night with no cold weather gear or oxygen. This is also known as committing suicide. Superman himself couldn’t survive that.” <<
Sorry to burst your misinformation bubble, but anyone who’s been around a drop zone would know that 10,000 feet is not an uncommon altitude to skydive from. Oxygen is not needed. It’s done every day in the US somehwere. I used to watch the skydivers near here jump most every day from 10,000 to 14,000 feet. At the drop zone, one of them even showed me his recording altimeter showing his free fall time from that altitude.
When I jumped, from only a small plane, it was from about 3500 ft. That’s for a static line beginner’s first jump.
Also, he jumped from the plane over SW Washington state, which is a LONG way from the NE. While parts of WA state are forested, SW WA is a myriad of different types of geography, including rocky, almost desert landscapes to cultivated farmland.
While temperatures are on the chilly side around November here, most people around here go around in normal clothing, day and night. This isn’t the wilds of Alaska tundra. He might have gotten chilly jumping from 10K ft, but skydivers do it daily and folks around here get along on the ground in November with suits or light jackets. Again, not the frozen great white north that you describe.
Actually, for someone with reasonable training, they wouldn’t need to be Superman to survive this exploit. I believe our military personnel do things like this all the time and survive quite well. [God bless them!]
It’s already been pointed out that he did not jump from the side door, which would have been impossible to open during flight. That’s why he chose the 727, as it had the rear ramp, like many in the military use for parachuting out of airplanes.
Based on all your other misinformation, I would have to disagree with your conclusion that “he certainly died that night”.
Please check your facts before posting wild assertions.
No. He jumped from the rear ramp door. And that altitude is survivable. If he didn't survive the jump, he would have surely been found attached to the parachute, and they wouldn't have found some of the cash some distance away. There is no reason to believe he didn't survive.
Teaches all a lesson about going off half cocked around here I guess.
ping for a sky diver
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No. I don’t feel beat up.
The NE thing was just a simple typo. The side door thing came from a documentary I saw. In retrospect, they could have been discussing what could have happened ‘if’ he jumped from the side.
The show also said that he jumped into bitterly cold bad weather wearing only a business suit.
But, yeah, my statement was over the top and I was duly chastised. Which is fine.
But, a high night jump in cold weather over a forest with no specialized gear, is crazy. I am certainly not the only one who believes he didn’t make it.
He possibly could have made it if the Gods were with him, but I doubt it.
My problem was I got the facts wrong and spoke in bombastic terms. I tend to do that a lot more in the morning than throughout the day. (coffee deficit issues)
Happy T day to all my Freeper friends.
(I’ve got to get to bed. Very sleepy for some reason)
WA state ping list
WA Ping
There was a semi-popular band named DB Cooper a while back. I always thought it would be a hoot if it turned out that one of them was really him.
I spent a week in Sana Fe, NM. Santa Fe is nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an altitude of 7,000 feet. I had no problems at all with Oxygen etc for 3 days. Then on the 4th day evening I decided I needed to go for a jog to burn up all those calories I was taking in. I had 3 or 4 cups of coffee in the afternoon and a social drink at 5 O’clock and then went jogging. No problem during the jog.
Then at 1 am I woke up with urge to pee, and disaster strikes! My heart was totally out of rhythm, beating very erratically. Since this had never happened before, it scared the dickens out of me. So I dials 911. The ambulance soon arrived, and started it’s drive to the hospital. After a couple of miles, the ambulance engine dies out! I figured it must be my time to go? They radioed another ambulance to pick me up and put me on oxygen mask. At the hospital the doc gave me Xanax and that worked like magic, my heart beating close to normal again.
Moral of the story is avoid combining caffiene+alcohol+exercise at 7000 ft altitude. And secondly, that Xanax stuff is just a miracle drug, if and when you need it.
Interesting, but I recently watched the History Channel on Mt. Rushmore and they twisted the truth like everything, so I don’t trust them.
PING
Apparently DB Cooper was wearing loafers when he jumped (on a dark and stormy night.)
I’ve heard a lot about Mr. Rackstraw over the years and the possibility of him being D.B. Cooper. (For what it’s worth, I think the stewardess saying she didn’t think he’s the man speaks volumes.) One of the most frustrating parts of this case is no one knows exactly when the hijacker jumped from the plane. The pilots felt a thud movement and they assumed that’s when he jumped from the stairs, giving the plane a little bounce, but no one knows for sure. There’s been speculation about the jump site, too.
I think the case can be solved, in one of three ways:
1) The true hijacker turns himself, and what’s left of the money, in to authorities.
2) A body, money and parachute are found.
3) DNA. This will apply to both #1 and #2, and also for building a profile of an as yet unknown person.
D.B. Cooper, whomever he is, has been given the moniker of ‘hero’, but he’s far from it. To hijack a plane, display a (fake) bomb, terrify the flight crew, and steal money, says a lot about his makeup.
Check out # 39.
Thanks, Kharis13.
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