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A four-part Netflix docuseries titled D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! will examine one of the most fabled unsolved mysteries in U.S. history.
The series will explore the 45-year-long investigation into a man who hijacked a commercial plane traveling from Portland to Seattle on November 24, 1971. Despite the FBI's best efforts and various theories from citizen sleuths, the identity of the hijacker was never confirmed.
D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! will detail the events of the notorious hijacking and examine the theories promulgated by amateur sleuths over the years.
D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! is set to premiere on July 13, 2022, at 3 am ET.
D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!: The biggest unsolved mystery in U.S. history
The mystery of D.B. Cooper, a nondescript 40-something-year-old man who hijacked a commercial plane in 1971, is still a chink in the armor of the FBI.
With $200,000 in cash and two parachutes, the man made the plane fly on his own terms before escaping without a scratch and then never being found. Whether he died during his dangerous skydiving escape or remained a fugitive from justice is unknown.
The FBI investigation, known as NORJAK (Northwest Hijacking), ran for 45 years without any conclusive results. No one even knows what the man's real name was. Conspiracy theories regarding his identity abound.
D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! will dive into the various theories that have been promulgated so far.
D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!: Who was D.B. Cooper?
The first thing to know about the notorious skyjacker featured in D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! is that his name was not D.B. Cooper.
On November 24, 1971, a man in his mid-40s introduced himself as Dan Cooper while buying a $20 ticket for Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305. He was around six feet tall and was dressed in a business suit, trench coat and loafers.
Seated in an aisle seat, 18C, Cooper was traveling with 36 fellow passengers from Portland to Seattle. This did not include the pilot Captain William Scott, first officer Bob Rataczak and flight engineer H.E. Anderson. Aside from the cockpit crew, there were also two flight attendants, Tina Mucklow and Florence Schaffner, accompanying the passengers on the flight.
While the alias Dan Cooper also turned out to be fake, the famous moniker D.B. Cooper was the result of a careless press member misreporting the name. Over time, various media outlets continued to use the name when quoting information about the infamous case, thus setting it in stone.
D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!: What were D.B. Cooper's demands?
Shortly after the plane took off, D.B. Cooper handed a note to flight attendant Florence Schaffner that warned her of a bomb in his briefcase. It also conveyed a demand of $200,000 in $20 bills and two parachutes.
Nodding to his attaché, Cooper opened it just enough to provide her a glimpse at two red cylinders and wires that gave the appearance of dynamite.
At 5:24 pm that day, the ground team at Seattle-Tacoma airport radioed Captain Scott, saying that they had the ransom ready.
The plane landed in a remote, well-lit area, and cabin lights were dimmed. Per Cooper's directions, an unaccompanied employee of Northwest Airlines approached him with the ransom.
After his demands were met, Cooper let go of the 36 passengers and flight attendant Florence Schaffner. He then ordered the pilot to fly the plane to Mexico City after refueling in Reno, Nevada. His instructions also included that the plane fly at under 10,000 feet at a speed of 150 knots.
Somewhere between Seattle and Reno, D.B. Cooper lowered the aft stairs and jumped out of the plane along with the bag of cash and one parachute.
Netflix's D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! will shed more light on the genius or possibly deadly escape plan.
D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!: How did D.B. Cooper escape?
Cooper came in prepared for the hijack plan. From the choice of plane to the intricacies of the ransom, everything was meticulously planned.
Cooper knew a lot about the Boeing 727-100 he had boarded. He had asked the pilot to fly at a speed of 150 knots because any experienced diver can easily dive at that speed. He also knew that the jet was lightweight enough to fly at that speed under 10,000 feet.
Cooper ordered the flight attendant and crew to stay within the cockpit, with him maneuvering his escape on the outside. At 10:15 pm, when the flight landed in Reno, Nevada, the cabin was empty, with all the money and one parachute gone along with D.B. Cooper. He had lowered the aft stairs and jumped sometime before that.
The weather that night prevented the authorities from searching the grounds. For weeks afterwards, an extensive search was conducted, but it yielded nothing of value. There was no trace of the hijacker or the parachute used to dive.
D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! will further dive into the longstanding unsolved mystery.
In 1980, however, an 8-year-old boy found bundles of $20 bills amounting to $5,800 in the Columbia River. The serial numbers on the bills matched those on the cash paid in ransom to Cooper.
This evidence led authorities to conclude that he did not survive the fall. This remains among the most popular theories regarding the mystery of D.B. Cooper.
Watch D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! on Netflix on July 13, 2022.
