The course of Flight #305 of Northwest Orient Airlines has been redirected, ransom money of $200,000 had just been lost, and a mysterious man is at large! The flight landed in its intended destination; Seattle, Washington; after departing on November 24, 1971. However, upon landing, 36 distressed passengers were released, apparently in exchange for $200,000, only for the plane to depart ONCE MORE, on a redirected course to Mexico City! What could this mean? What is happening to Flight #305? Fortunately, the FBI has already been alerted, but what comes next?

As early as its original way towards Seattle, the FBI had apparently been immediately alerted of transpiring events inflight: a plane hijacking! New data had just been revealed, thanks to a brave flight stewardess on board. Shortly after the plane's original takeoff towards Seattle, a mysterious man handed the flight stewardess a note indicating that a bomb was in his briefcase, and asked her to sit with him. The mysterious man opened a cheap attaché case, showing the stewardess a glimpse of a mass of wires, colored sticks, and batteries; a true horror to behold. This man was serious. The flight stewardess, Tina Mucklow, had no choice but to give in to whatever he had asked. What happened next? What happened after they landed in Seattle? What happened on the flight to Mexico City, after the 36 passengers had been released?

This just in: more data has been revealed about this perplexing case! Firstly, the man had revealed his alias in the conversation with the brave flight stewardess: "D.B. Cooper". He had come with a bomb and a strong demand, ordering the flight stewardess to pass a note to the captain. It was something of a bargain: the safety of the 36 passengers upon landing, in exchange for 4 parachutes, and $200,000. Upon landing in Seattle, these 36 passengers were exchanged for the parachutes and money. It was then, and only then, that the plane took off on its new course demanded by Cooper: Mexico City. What are his motives? Why Mexico City? The question remains: what is happening to Flight #305?

The plane had just took off for Mexico City, as demanded by Cooper. However, somewhere between Seattle and Reno on its course to Mexico City, the mysterious man had done the impossible: he jumped out of the plane with a parachute and the ransom money. The time was around 8:00PM: the flight crew was able to land safely in Mexico City, but Cooper? He had disappeared into the night. Evidence was ready to be claimed, such as bags that contained the parachutes, or leftover clothing. Thus, the FBI had launched an extensive investigation about this case, known as NORJAK, for Northwest Hijacking.

Now that the flight crew had landed safely, a thorough investigation was set in place towards finding and catching D.B. Cooper. A description was given thanks to the flight crew on board: a quiet man in his mid-40s, wearing a business suit with a black tie and white shirt, around 6 feet in height. Along with various facial descriptions and a myriad of questions, an accurate sketch of Cooper's face had been drawn, and the investigation had been put into motion. It was later discovered that the man had bought his ticket for Flight 305 listed as "Dan Cooper", which had been discovered to be a completely fake alias. The FBI had tried to use various evidences, such as his leftover tie, or recovered ransom money. But now, what comes next? A facial description has been conjured, and evidence has been provided. What is the next step?

With the use of the sketches and evidence given by the flight crew, interrogations were conducted and suspects were taken in. Over a mere 5 years after the hijacking, over 800 suspects were arrested for interrogation; yet they had all yielded to almost no leads, no matter how promising they looked. For example, take Richard Floyd McCoy, one prime suspect among others. McCoy had conducted a similar hijacking (both in his escape and his methods) less than five months after Cooper's incident. And yet, he was later ruled out for not nearly matching the physical descriptions provided by the flight attendants. For another example, take the partial DNA sample yielded from Cooper's tie. They had tried to link the DNA to another prime suspect, Lynn D. Cooper, but it yielded no match whatsoever. Up to this day, Cooper's whereabouts and this case in its entirety remains unsolved. Theories and conspiracies still float around: Was Cooper a genius, cautiously evading the full force of the FBI? Did Cooper even survive the fall, as his clothes weren't fit for landing and the escape stunt was reckless and dangerous? These questions remain unanswered. No suspects have been fully arrested under this incident, and no body has ever been recovered. The curious case of D.B. Cooper remains open and unsolved.

2️⃣ RECENT CASE SUMMARY

3️⃣ FLIGHT CREW REPORT

4️⃣ EVIDENCE AND LEADS