D.B. Cooper – NORJAK Hijacking FBI & DOJ Files

Description

D.B. Cooper: A Skyjacking Timeline and Cast of Characters

1971

• November 24, 1971:Ticket Purchase: A man identifying himself as “Dan Cooper” pays cash for a ticket for Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 at Portland International Airport.
• Flight and Hijacking: Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 departs from Portland, Oregon, en route to Seattle, Washington. While airborne, “Cooper” gives a flight attendant a note claiming he has an explosive device.
• Demands Made: “Cooper” demands $200,000 and four parachutes.
• Hostage Release: “Cooper” releases the 38 hostages after his demands are met.
• Second Flight Segment: The plane departs Seattle, now bound for Mexico City.
• Egress from Aircraft: Approximately 30 minutes after leaving Seattle, somewhere between Seattle, WA, and Reno, NV, “Cooper” opens the plane’s aft door, deploys the stairs, and jumps out of the back of the plane while wearing one of the parachutes.
• Investigation Begins: The FBI initiates one of its longest and most exhaustive investigations, codenamed “NORJAK” (Northwest Hijacking). A law enforcement officer mistakenly refers to the hijacker as “D.B. Cooper,” and the name sticks.

1972

• 1972 (Throughout): The U.S. Attorney’s Case File for the Western District of Washington (Case CR-0451) reports on issues involving the case, the statute of limitations, and public opinions. It also details experiments conducted by the U.S. Air Force and the FBI to determine event specifics.
• 1972 (Throughout): A 336-page report on the incident and investigation is compiled, including descriptions of the hijacking, witness interviews, airline logs, FAA recordings, details on parachutes and ransom money, weather conditions, aircraft course (with maps), search areas (with maps), Boeing 727 technical data, experiments with air stairs, searches of the aircraft and flight path, and investigations at various airports and clubs.
• April 7, 1972: Richard Floyd McCoy Jr. hijacks United Airlines Flight 855. He receives a $500,000 ransom and then parachutes from the plane using a rear stairway, similar to the D.B. Cooper hijacking.
• April 9, 1972: Richard Floyd McCoy Jr. is arrested two days after his hijacking. $499,970 in cash is found in his house.

1974

• August 10, 1974: Richard Floyd McCoy Jr. escapes from the Federal penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he was serving a 45-year sentence, using a fake handgun made of dental paste.
• November 9, 1974: FBI agents locate Richard Floyd McCoy Jr. in Virginia Beach, Virginia. McCoy opens fire on the agents and is killed by their return fire.

1971 – May 1992

• Continuous Investigation: The FBI maintains 36,628 pages of files on the NORJAK investigation during this period.

2025

• March 2025 (Release Date): 789 pages of FBI files related to the D.B. Cooper skyjacking are released to the public. These files indicate FBI interest in individuals with advanced skydiving training, injuries consistent with a parachute jump, or names/aliases similar to “Dan Cooper.” The files mention two men initially of strong interest were cleared due to physical characteristics (significant balding, pot belly) and a professional bowler who was also investigated.

Cast of Characters

• Dan Cooper / D.B. Cooper: The still officially unidentified man who skyjacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 on November 24, 1971. He paid cash for his ticket, demanded $200,000 and four parachutes, released the hostages, and then parachuted out of the plane somewhere between Seattle, WA, and Reno, NV. He is initially known as “Dan Cooper” but becomes famously known as “D.B. Cooper” due to a law enforcement error. His case remains the only unsolved American commercial airline hijacking.
• Richard Floyd McCoy Jr. (1942 – 1974): An individual who hijacked United Airlines Flight 855 on April 7, 1972, receiving a $500,000 ransom and parachuting from the plane. He was arrested two days later and found with most of the ransom money. He later escaped from a federal penitentiary in 1974 but was killed by FBI agents in November 1974 after opening fire on them. He was an initial person of interest in the D.B. Cooper case due to similarities in his hijacking method, but the provided sources do not explicitly state he was definitively cleared of being D.B. Cooper.
• Flight Attendants (Unnamed): Individuals who were on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 and received the note from “Cooper” indicating he had an explosive device. They would have been key witnesses.
• Passengers (Unnamed): The 38 hostages on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 who were released by “Cooper” in Seattle.
• Law Enforcement Officer (Unnamed): The individual who erroneously referred to the hijacker as “D.B.” Cooper, leading to the lasting moniker.
• FBI Agents / Investigators (Unnamed): Numerous agents and personnel involved in the “NORJAK” investigation, which became one of the longest and most exhaustive in FBI history. They conducted searches, interviews, and experiments. They were also involved in the pursuit and eventual killing of Richard Floyd McCoy Jr.
• U.S. Air Force Personnel (Unnamed): Individuals who assisted the FBI in conducting experiments to determine details about the D.B. Cooper event, likely related to the parachute jump and plane mechanics.
• Professional Bowler (Unnamed): An individual who was of interest to the FBI in the D.B. Cooper investigation, as revealed in files released in March 2025. The reason for interest or the outcome of the investigation into this individual is not detailed.
• Two Men (Unnamed): Individuals who were “originally of strong interest” to the FBI in the D.B. Cooper case but were later cleared. One was cleared due to “significant balding,” and the other due to a “pot belly,” suggesting they did not match witness descriptions or other physical criteria