DB Cooper a Boeing engineer on SST?

[RyanB]

I believe some of the marked money was recovered in the forest but no trace of DB. Mountainous, forested terrain could easily conceal a dead DB Cooper that won't be found for a hundred years, if ever. I tend to believe he knew about skydiving but I also believe he didn't survive his last jump.

Money was found buried along the shores of the Columbia River a few years after it happened. The terrain could definitely conceal a body, but as far as concealing a large colored nylon parachute canopy seems unlikely, which makes me think he did survive the jump.

 

[Clark1961]

Stupid it was.

The "no jewelry" comment is funny.

Had a supervisor lose his position over that one in the same plant. Went out on a bender one night; came to work the next morning with a single stud in his ear. The super pulled him off the floor and demoted him on the spot.

He made it clear that there would be no men working for him who would even think about wearing an earring.

And this was at one of the automotive big three.

Ear studs are pretty safe. The guys with chains around their necks, a ring, an uncovered watch band, things of that nature were at risk. Some of the pictures I still remember are the fingers torn by rings...and I don't even want to get into the long hair.

 

[GlennAB1]

He was a smart guy, maybe he planted the tie, and planted the elements on it.

 

[JCranford]

I'm not sure how one would repack a chute in the aisle of a 727

It would be pretty easy to PRO pack a chute in an airplane aisle. Doesn't take that much room. It's not like flat packing one laid out on the floor.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

Ear studs are pretty safe. The guys with chains around their necks, a ring, an uncovered watch band, things of that nature were at risk. Some of the pictures I still remember are the fingers torn by rings...and I don't even want to get into the long hair.

He wasn't demoted due to a safety issue.

He was demoted because the super doubted his masculinity.

 

[kyleb]

The one thing that has always bothered me a little bit was that he didn't bring his own chute. Would you really trust the FBI supplied chutes to be operational?

My mental image following this post was him pulling the cord and releasing an ACME anvil from the chute pack.

Realistically, I think the odds of him surviving a night jump into that terrain in those conditions would not be good. Dude either streamered in, strained himself through the trees on the way down, or went for a final swim, IMO. His remains probably fed the local wildlife...

 

[NoHeat]

He was a smart guy, maybe he planted the tie, and planted the elements on it.

Funny.

But more seriously, how do we know that all JC Penny clip-on ties didn't already have those elements when they came from the necktie factory?

That's what I don't understand about this investigative effort.

 

[designrs]

Lacking?? Seems like he had mad skills to me. Anyone who can bail from a 727 in dark night, rainy weather over dense terrain and never leave behind any evidence of a parachute, nor be seen again is far from lacking as a skydiver.

He requested and received four parachutes. He opted to use the least technically advanced chutes AND took one chute that was marked inoperable and was sewn shut for demonstration purposes. This doesn't take into account the hostile environment and conditions that he jumped into.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Anyone who can bail from a 727 in dark night, rainy weather over dense terrain and never leave behind any evidence of a parachute, nor be seen again is far from lacking as a skydiver.

Or, he had absolutely no skills and the 'chute never opened. No one would ever find a body strapped to a unopened 'chute in the middle of that terrain. Ever.

 

[RyanB]

Or, he had absolutely no skills and the 'chute never opened. No one would ever find a body strapped to a unopened 'chute in the middle of that terrain. Ever.

That's definitely a possibility. Still makes me question how the money got to where it did if he didn't survive the jump. I suppose natural erosion could've covered it under the sand, but it seemed to strategically placed. Guess nobody will ever know unfortunately.

 

[NoHeat]

I've never even touched a parachute. So I've got a question.

Assuming he strapped it on correctly while in the lit cabin of the airliner ... how tricky would it be to deploy the chute, after jumping, if it is completely dark outside, and his only familiarity with the chute is examining it for a few minutes after it was delivered?

 

[wanttaja]

That's definitely a possibility. Still makes me question how the money got to where it did if he didn't survive the jump. I suppose natural erosion could've covered it under the sand, but it seemed to strategically placed. Guess nobody will ever know unfortunately.

During the D-Day parachute jump, a lot of troopers lost their weapons and other items from the opening shock (this is even depicted in "Band of Brothers"). Even an experienced parachutist might have problems hanging a bag on his harness, or the bag itself may have broken.

NOT having the money to spend probably kept Cooper out of jail...they were watching pretty closely.

Ron Wanttaja

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

During the D-Day parachute jump, a lot of troopers lost their weapons and other items from the opening shock (this is even depicted in "Band of Brothers"). Even an experienced parachutist might have problems hanging a bag on his harness, or the bag itself may have broken.

NOT having the money to spend probably kept Cooper out of jail...they were watching pretty closely.

Ron Wanttaja

That would have been a bummer. Pulled off the hijack of the century, but dropped the money bag in the dark at altitude when he pulled the cord.

Had to go back to work the next week empty handed with a story he could share with no one.

 

[Sac Arrow]

During the D-Day parachute jump, a lot of troopers lost their weapons and other items from the opening shock (this is even depicted in "Band of Brothers"). Even an experienced parachutist might have problems hanging a bag on his harness, or the bag itself may have broken.

NOT having the money to spend probably kept Cooper out of jail...they were watching pretty closely.

Ron Wanttaja

When you do a jump with equipment, you have it dangling below you by a cord, but it's not very long. Maybe 50 feet to touchdown you cut the cord loose so you aren't landing with all that weight. When you do a night jump, judging when to drop your equipment can be very difficult. You might cut it loose and hear a "whoosh", or you are to late and you smack in to the ground with a lot of force.

 

[arnoha]

I've never even touched a parachute. So I've got a question.

Assuming he strapped it on correctly while in the lit cabin of the airliner ... how tricky would it be to deploy the chute, after jumping, if it is completely dark outside, and his only familiarity with the chute is examining it for a few minutes after it was delivered?

My experience with my only jump (which was tandem) was that I mistakenly completely relaxed into the slipstream. I found that at terminal velocity, I was unable to get my arms down below the plane of my body. I had let them trail up so far that it was way past the point where I had any strength or leverage. Of course, it was tandem, so I wasn't the one doing the pulling. If it were, I'd probably be dead. Asymmetric movements would have probably tumbled my body, so even the emergency chute's automatic mechanism would not have saved me, as it would have released in a highly unoptimal body attitude.

Given that the "spare" chute he had was actually a dummy, he had no automatic opening. I'm not saying that my experience happened to him, but it's one possible outcome. There are so many ways he could have ended up dead and so few that he lived, my money is solidly on a very dead DB Cooper.

 

[Acrodustertoo]

He was a smokejumper out of Missoula Montana, they make night jumps into heavily forested mountainous terrain all the time with nay a death and the trees are on fire just to add to the danger level! They also still use those stupid round chutes just like cooper did and while carrying shovels, chainsaws and their tents, clothes etc in a bag strapped to them.
Let's not make this out yo be like some world record death defying jump he made. He had brass balls and a sterling mind. He made it alive but may have lost some cash along the way but it was a jump like he had been trained on and performed many times during the summer months. His day job was as a shop teacher at a college or tech school. Teachers have Summer's off and are a favorite profession of smokejumpers.

To find him just follow these clues:
1- he was a teacher in the industrial arts
2- smokejumper
3- get off my lawn!

 

[Justin M]

I've never even touched a parachute. So I've got a question.

Assuming he strapped it on correctly while in the lit cabin of the airliner ... how tricky would it be to deploy the chute, after jumping, if it is completely dark outside, and his only familiarity with the chute is examining it for a few minutes after it was delivered?

It's easy to open your chute in the dark assuming you can do it right during the day.

Generally, you're not looking at the rip cord/ handle / pilot chute (mine is mounted where I am unable to see it day or night). Instead, you reach where you expect it to be. A full practice pulls before exit would take 10 seconds and be enough to familiarize yourself where the handle sits on the harness.

 

[tmyers]

If that was the case Dana, there would have been evidence found. It would be very difficult to bail out in those conditions over that terrain and not leave any evidence post-jump if he didn't know anything out the sport. He was certainly being stupid and crazy, but he was skilled.

You mean evidence like a trail of bad smelling milk duds?

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