Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 17 minutes ago
The mystery of D.B. Cooper, who was perhaps America’s most famous skyjacker has fascinated the world since 1971. On 24 November that year a man calling himself Dan Cooper (the name D.B. Cooper was a later press error) bought a one-way ticket at Portland International airport for a trip to Seattle-Tacoma International airport. He boarded Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305, which was being serviced by a Boeing 727 plane and proceeded to hijack it after take-off. Claiming to have a bomb, he demanded that $200,000 and four parachutes be brought onboard when the plane landed in Seattle. This was done and having refuelled, the plane took off again. Somewhere en route to Reno-Tahoe, where another refuelling was planned for an onward trip to Mexico, Cooper had the crew leave him alone in the cabin, lowered the 727’s distinctive back staircase and jumped out of the plane with the money. He was never seen again. Over eight years later, on 10 February 1980, an eight-year-old boy named Brian Ingram was playing on a beach known as Tina Bar and discovered three packets of the Cooper ransom money, totally $5,800. No further evidence has ever come to light regarding what happened to Cooper or the rest of the money and he has since become an almost mythic figure.
In this D.B. Cooper documentary from History Calling, I take you through the events of the night of 24 November 1971 in detail, using crime scene photographs and witness statements taken by the FBI from the plane’s flight crew to tell you what Dan Cooper looked like, what he said and how he acted. I’ll also discuss what the few remaining items left behind by the skyjacker tell us about who D.B. Cooper really was and what the discovery of the money might mean. I’ll finish by telling you what happened to D.B. Cooper in my opinion, why he has proved so elusive to the FBI’s NORJAK investigation and why this is my favourite historical mystery.
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
HISTORICAL MYSTERIES PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0H723r8TXWbRIoTnpAX1CGk
FIRST FLIGHT EVER
youtu.be/XNdE-xJoH4M
GEAR USED
DJI Drone: amzn.to/38h1vXr (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/39hROZm (US LINK)
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3EPIK9U (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rTWScL (US LINK)
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/37CdC1r (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3vaVxjU (US LINK)
Memory Card: amzn.to/36QvcOQ (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3KeLZZs (US LINK)
Microphone: amzn.to/3MFtoaK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rYtjH8 (US LINK)
LEARN MORE:
FBI files on the case (be warned, there are many thousands of seemingly unorganised pages here)
vault.fbi.gov/D-B-Cooper%20
Citizen Sleuths
citizensleuths.com
THUMBNAIL: pictures from the FBI
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
The mystery of D.B. Cooper, who was perhaps America’s most famous skyjacker has fascinated the world since 1971. On 24 November that year a man calling himself Dan Cooper (the name D.B. Cooper was a later press error) bought a one-way ticket at Portland International airport for a trip to Seattle-Tacoma International airport. He boarded Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305, which was being serviced by a Boeing 727 plane and proceeded to hijack it after take-off. Claiming to have a bomb, he demanded that $200,000 and four parachutes be brought onboard when the plane landed in Seattle. This was done and having refuelled, the plane took off again. Somewhere en route to Reno-Tahoe, where another refuelling was planned for an onward trip to Mexico, Cooper had the crew leave him alone in the cabin, lowered the 727’s distinctive back staircase and jumped out of the plane with the money. He was never seen again. Over eight years later, on 10 February 1980, an eight-year-old boy named Brian Ingram was playing on a beach known as Tina Bar and discovered three packets of the Cooper ransom money, totally $5,800. No further evidence has ever come to light regarding what happened to Cooper or the rest of the money and he has since become an almost mythic figure.
In this D.B. Cooper documentary from History Calling, I take you through the events of the night of 24 November 1971 in detail, using crime scene photographs and witness statements taken by the FBI from the plane’s flight crew to tell you what Dan Cooper looked like, what he said and how he acted. I’ll also discuss what the few remaining items left behind by the skyjacker tell us about who D.B. Cooper really was and what the discovery of the money might mean. I’ll finish by telling you what happened to D.B. Cooper in my opinion, why he has proved so elusive to the FBI’s NORJAK investigation and why this is my favourite historical mystery.
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
HISTORICAL MYSTERIES PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0H723r8TXWbRIoTnpAX1CGk
FIRST FLIGHT EVER
youtu.be/XNdE-xJoH4M
GEAR USED
DJI Drone: amzn.to/38h1vXr (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/39hROZm (US LINK)
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3EPIK9U (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rTWScL (US LINK)
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/37CdC1r (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3vaVxjU (US LINK)
Memory Card: amzn.to/36QvcOQ (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3KeLZZs (US LINK)
Microphone: amzn.to/3MFtoaK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rYtjH8 (US LINK)
LEARN MORE:
FBI files on the case (be warned, there are many thousands of seemingly unorganised pages here)
vault.fbi.gov/D-B-Cooper%20
Citizen Sleuths
citizensleuths.com
THUMBNAIL: pictures from the FBI
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
