The Mystery of D.B. Cooper - History Daily

November 24, 1971. An unidentified man hijacks a Boeing 727 and extorts $200,000 of ransom money before parachuting to an uncertain fate over Washington State.

Check out History Daily at https://www.noiser.com/history-daily

On History Daily, we do history, daily. Every weekday, host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to explore a momentous event that happened ‘on this day’ in history.
Whether it’s to remember the tragedy of December 7th, 1941, the day “that will live in infamy,” or to celebrate that 20th day in July, 1969, when mankind reached the moon, History Daily is there to tell you the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world—one day at a time.
So if you’re stuck in traffic, bored at work—wherever you are, listen to History Daily to remind yourself that something incredible happened to make that day historic.
A co-production from award-winning podcasters Airship and Noiser.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Something that will come as a surpriseto absolutely none of you is that I
collect books. Admittedly, my bookcollection is pretty small, at least compared
to most serious collections. However,it's mine and I love it. Among
my favorite pieces of the collection arethe entire ninth edition of Encyclopedia Britannica,

(00:22):
printed in eighteen ninety two, avery spooky looking collection of Edgar Allan Poe's
short stories from nineteen thirty two,vintage copies of Ernie Pyle's Brave Men,
Ernest Hemingway's The Sun also Rises inVirginia Wolf's Missus Dollaway, and a giant
anthology on the history of the AmericanWest. I proudly display this collection in

(00:45):
the giant oak bookshelf in my classroomthat sits just behind my desk. There
is another book on that bookshelf,though, that I absolutely love. It's
a very thick on this Day inhistory book. Sometimes I let my students
use that book and it's always abig hit. I think it's an innate
interest in all of us what happenedexactly a year ago, or ten years

(01:08):
ago, or a thousand years ago. Learning these little tidbits really makes us
feel like we are part of thegrand human timeline. The only problem,
though, is that each day onlyhas a tiny entry. It makes sense.
I guess you can only print abook so thick before it has to
become an anthology. But what ifI told you that you could get that

(01:30):
same experience but in a very deeplyresearched and richly presented podcast. History Daily
is just that. From Lindsay Graham, the man behind American History Tellers and
many other history podcasts, comes abeautifully told bit of On This Day History.
It's a really wonderful show and you'lldefinitely enjoy it. In fact,

(01:53):
today you're going to hear an episodeof History Daily about the mysterious disappearance of
dB Cooper. I will post thelink to History Daily in the show notes
so you can easily subscribe and geta super interesting dose of On This Day
History every weekday. If you havefound yourself here as a result of Obscure
History being featured on History Daily's Saturdaymatinee, then welcome. I am really

(02:16):
really glad that you're here. Ifyou've already heard this episode of History Daily,
I suggest that you listen again becauseit's a great show. But feel
free to browse the back catalog ofObscure History. When you're done. There
are plenty of episodes to enjoy untilI release a brand new episode next Sunday
night. Thank you so much forlistening, and enjoy this wonderful episode from

(02:38):
History Daily. It's November twenty fourth, nineteen seventy one. A passenger plane

(03:02):
fly south over Washington State outside astorm rages, hailstones pelted the cockpit window.
Thunderclaps make the aircraft shutter and lurch. Lightning flashes provide fleeting glimpses of
the wilderness below, a churning river, jagged mountain tops, and unending stretches
of pine forest. Conditions like thesecan bring planes like this down, so

(03:27):
the pilots clenched their jaws, whograpple with a throttle. This storm is
biblical, they think, as theireyes anxiously flit between the controls and the
altitude indicator. They're flying dangerously lowten thousand feet just below the clouds.
But those are their instructions that theydon't dare defy them. Earlier that day,
during a routine flight from Portland toSeattle, these pilots received word from

(03:52):
one of the stewardesses that their planewas being hijacked. The hijacker had a
bomb, they said, and wasdemanding two hundred thousand dollars in cash and
strangely, four parachutes. The hijackerforced the pilots to land in Seattle.
After securing the ransom, he releasedthe passengers and forced the pilots to remain

(04:12):
on board, along with an engineerand one stewardess. The hijacker ordered the
pilots to take off again and flythe plane to Mexico City no higher than
ten thousand feet. The man hada bomb, they were told. The
pilots had no choice but to oblige, but now struggling through this tempest,
they fear they may not even makeit out of Washington. Suddenly, the

(04:33):
door of the cockpit flies open.It's Tina Mucclow, the stewardess. She's
been in the cabin with the hijacker. Pilot asker what's going on, and
she indicates he's going to jump.Meanwhile, in the very back of the
cabin, hijacker stands at an opendoor, peering into the dark abyss below.

(04:53):
A look of fear briefly passes overhis face as he contemplates the freezing
vortex of wind and rain. Hetakes a final drag of his cigarette to
steady his nerves, and he picksup the briefcases full of cash, tightens
the strap of the parachute around hisshoulders, and jumps before he hits the

(05:15):
ground. News of the hijacking willalready be a national story, and the
hijacker, known only as dB Cooper, will become an urban legend. To
find him, the FBI will launchthe longest and most exhaustive investigation in its
history, but to no avail.dB Cooper, whoever he is, will
vanish from Neuser and Airship. I'mLindsay Graham, and this is history.

(05:46):
Daily history is made every day onthis podcast. Every day we tell the
true stories of the people and eventsthat shaped our world. Today. Is

(06:11):
November twenty fourth, The Mystery ofdB Cooper. It's November twenty fourth,
nineteen seventy one. Several hours beforedB Cooper jumps out of the hijacked plane
on board a Northwest orient Airlines flightfrom Portland to Seattle, twenty two year
old stewardess Tina Mucklow prays for abreak in the weather. Outside dark storm

(06:34):
clouds rumble and flash with lightning.Violent squalls hammer against the windows. The
flight's already been delayed by thirty minutes, the entire flight time of this short
puddle jump to Seattle. The passengersare restless. It's these tedious domestic flights
that make Mucklow question her decision tobecome a stewardess in the first place.

(06:55):
Maybe she should have followed her motherinto nursing, she thinks, as she
choose her fingernails. She or anurse, she wouldn't have to hide her
wedding ring. She wouldn't be firedfor the crime of being pregnant, or
for turning thirty. As the termsof her employment contracts stipulate. Commercial aviation's
boom years, the jet age ofthe fifties and sixties have reached a giddy

(07:15):
fever pitch. By nineteen seventy one. Air travel used to be the privilege
of the wealthy few, but bythe seventies, falling fairs means anyone can
take to the skies. Flying hasnever been so accessible or so straightforward.
All you have to do is showup. You don't even need a valid
ID. To Tina Mucklow, agirl from rural Pennsylvania. The life of
an air stewardess seemed glamorous and exciting. She'd signed up in the late sixties,

(07:40):
when acceptance rates for stewardess jobs werearound three percent more competitive than Yale
University. But the reality of thelifestyle is distinctly unglamorous. There are some
exotic foreign travel, but the hoursare long and the wages are low,
making matters worse. The job isbecoming increasingly dangerous. Between nineteen sixty eight

(08:01):
in nineteen seventy two, there weremore than one hundred thirty reported incidents of
a brand new type of crime inAmerica, airplane hijacking, as it came
to be known skyjacking. The causeof the epidemic was the trade and travel
band between the US and communist Cuba. The skyjackers were primarily Cuban nationals wishing
to return home. Such incidents becamea common occurrence and were lightheartedly dubbed take

(08:26):
Me to Cuba hijackings. But eventuallythese hijackings inspired other, more hardened criminals
to get in on the act.Most hijackings followed the same pattern. The
skyjackers would threaten to detonate a bombunless the airline agreed to pay their ransom,
and the airlines obliged, preferring topay up quietly rather than risk the
airplane, the passengers, and thepress. Additionally, they were often reluctant

(08:50):
to put safety measures in place,believing that too much security at the airport
would deter passengers from flying. Thankfully, Tina Mucklo has not been the victim
of a hijacker, but as hermother keeps reminding her, it's only a
matter of time. Finally, thesky's let up a bit and the captain
gives an all clear for takeoff.Mucclo performs her final safety checks of the

(09:13):
cabin, then heads to her seatat the rear of the plane. Just
as she's buckling in, she noticessomething strange. Her fellow steward US Florence,
sits next to a passenger, aman wearing a dark suit and sunglasses.
Muccolo is puzzled that Florence is sittingdown that's against the rules, but
as she approaches to check if everything'sall right, she sees Florence discreetly motioned

(09:37):
for her to pick up a notethat's lying on the floor. Muclo does
and reads it. Miss, I'vea bomb in my briefcase. I want
you to sit by me. You'rebeing hijacked somewhere deep in the bowels of
the aircraft. A high pitched wineturns into a guttural roar, and seconds
later the plane is airborne, soaringup into the stormy night sky. Her

(09:58):
heart pounding, Mucclo glances over atthe briefcase on the man's lap. She
can almost picture the bomb inside,like something from the movies. A tangle
of wires, a battery, sixred cylinders, sticks of dynamite. But
the bomb might be a fake,just like the mysterious man's identity. He
boarded the plane under a false name, Dan Cooper, but due to a

(10:20):
subsequent newspaper misprint, he will cometo be known by a different name,
D. B. Cooper, andhe has no intention of blowing up the
plane. He wants money, butTina Mucklo doesn't know that. Her eyes
brim with tears. Then, justas she starts to shake uncontrollably, she
hears the hijacker's voice calling her.She turns. He's looking directly at her,

(10:43):
a lit cigarette smoldering in one hand. He seems quite unlike a hardened
criminal. He seems pleasant, softspoken, polite. There's nothing to worry
about, he tells Mucklo, butMulo doesn't believe him. As the plane
hurls through the sky, she hearsher mother. There's words in her head,
and she begins to wonder if thismight be the last trips she will

(11:05):
ever make. It's November twenty fourth, nineteen seventy one. On board the
flight to Seattle, Cooper tries toput Mucklo and the other flight attendant at

(11:26):
ease. He urges them not toalert the passengers to the danger. As
long as everyone remains calm, heassures them, no one will be hurt.
Cooper is courteous and sympathetic. Hepays for his drinks with a twenty
dollar bill and lets Mucklo keep thechange. At one point, Mucklo asks
him if he has a grudge againstthe airline. No, Cooper replies,

(11:48):
I just have a grudge. Cooperinstructs the flight attendants to tell the pilots
of his demands. He wants twohundred thousand dollars in cash, as well
as four parachutes to be handed overonce they land, and see the pilots
relay these demands to air traffic control, who alert the FBI Before landing.
The plane will circle above Puget Soundfor two hours, giving the FBI agent's

(12:11):
time to collect the ransom and theirminds. Cooper is a dangerous criminal equipped
with explosives. They're hoping for apeaceful resolution, but if the worst comes,
they want to be ready. Asthe plane descends toward the Seattle Airport,
an army of FBI agents close inon the landing strip. Snipers train
their weapons on the incoming plane,but Cooper is prepared for this. As

(12:33):
soon as the plane touches down,he instructs flight attendant Tina Mucklow to close
the window shades, taking away theirchance of a clean shot. Cooper holds
the passenger's hostage until an airline officialapproaches the plane and hands over the four
parachutes and money. Then, aspromised, Cooper releases the passengers. Tina

(12:54):
Mucklow breathes a sigh of relief,but as she joins the others leaving the
plane, Cooper stops her. Sorry, miss, I need you here with
me. Mucklow is terrifying, butshe has no choice but to do what
the man says. Two hours Afterlanding in Seattle, Cooper orders the two
pilots to fly them all to MexicoCity at a maximum height of ten thousand

(13:16):
feet. Pilot's eyes instinctively flicker downto the briefcase Cooper holds by his side,
the constant unspoken threat. Like Mucklo, they do as they're told.
Once the plane is airborne, Cooperasks Mucklo how to open the aft stairs,
a retractable staircase in the belly ofthe plane. Mucklow glances at the

(13:39):
three extra parachutes. She wonders witha jolt of fear, if she's going
to be forced to jump, butthen Cooper tells her to join the pilots
in the cockpit. He seems resolute, focused, his mind fixed on the
task at hand, so Mucklow hurriesinto the cockpit and locks the door behind
her. Ten minutes later, ata round eight PM, Mucclo and the

(14:01):
pilots feel the rush of freezing windas Cooper opens the aft stairs. Then,
when they stopped to refuel and renoNevada, they emerge from the cockpit
to find that Cooper is gone.Immediately, FBI agents swarmed the aircraft,
but they find no trace of Cooperon board. He apparently parachuted from the
plane with the money, leaping headfirstinto a thunderstorm somewhere about the vast wilderness

(14:26):
around Mount Saint Helen's in Washington.That was when he opened the aft stairs,
and it'll be where the FBI beginstheir search. Thousands of military troops
and law enforcement officers comb the woodsand trees, but they don't find Cooper
or whatever is left of him.Many agents believe the Cooper's dead. One
of the lead agents on the casesuggests that it's likely Cooper didn't even get

(14:48):
his parachute open before he plunged tohis death. But as the months turn
into years without any discoveries, theauthorities will be forced to consider the alternative
that Cooper survive. It's February tenth, nineteen eighty nine, years after D.

(15:16):
B. Cooper hijacked the plane.An eight year old boy named Brian
Ingram sits on a grassy bank alongsidethe Columbia River. Brian is on vacation
with his family in Washington, andhe's terribly bored. Behind him, his
parents are packing up their picnic,arguing as usual. Despondently, Brian trails
a stick in the muddy sand,but suddenly the stick catches on something.

(15:37):
It's a flash of green. Brianclears away the muck, and as the
eyes go wide, it's money.Three tightly wrap bundles of twenty dollar bills,
almost six thousand dollars in total.The bills, though, are nearly
disintegrated. Brian's family will report thisto the authorities, who will cross reference
the serial numbers to prove that indeed, Ion has just discovered some of dB

(16:02):
Cooper's ransom money. The discovery willgive new life to an investigation long gone
stale. Over the past nine years. The search has been extensive and exhaustive.
Cooper's drop zone could only be estimatedbased on the trajectory of his fall
according to the plane's height and speed, factoring in weather conditions. Investigators focused

(16:22):
on the large area of wilderness northof Portland and south of Lake Merwin,
Washington. Submarines scoured, rivers,lakes were dredged. The FBI went door
to door with composite sketches of Cooper, but they didn't find a body anywhere.
But looking for a body does notadmit the other possibility that Cooper survived
the jump, and that he wenton to live a normal life with nearly

(16:45):
two hundred thousand dollars in tow Overthe decades, many will come forward claiming
that their husband, or their uncle, their friend or co worker, they
are the real dB Cooper. TheFBI will take some of these claims serious.
Most, however, they dismiss hisfantasy, and then in twenty sixteen,
the FBI officially closes its investigation intowhat is the only unsolved hijacking in

(17:11):
American history. Cooper is the subjectof countless stories, films, songs,
TV shows, and urban legends,but the biggest legacy D. B.
Cooper left behind is far more impactful. Cooper's skyjacking resulted in major changes in
modern inter travel, including the additionof metal detectors and the implementation of more
stringent laws designed to prevent and punishany future hijackers. Next on History Daily,

(17:41):
November twenty fifth, fourteen eighty seven, Elizabeth of York is crowned Queen
of England from Nouser and Airship.This is History Daily posted edited and executive
produced by me Lindsey Graham. Audioediting by Molly Boch. Sound designed by
Derek Barren's music by Lindsey Graham.This episode is writt and researched by Joe
Viner. Executive producers are Stephen Waltersfor an Airship and Pascal Hughes for Neiser