The case record
What was reported?
A man using the name Dan Cooper hijacked a passenger flight, obtained ransom and parachuted from the aircraft on 24 November 1971. His identity and fate have not been established.
After boarding in Portland, the hijacker claimed to have a bomb. Passengers were released in Seattle in exchange for money and parachutes. He later departed through the aircraft’s rear stairs during a further flight. The widely used initials D. B. arose in reporting rather than the name on his ticket.
Date is the hijacking. The representative flight-region marker is not a claimed parachute landing point.
- Reported date
- 24 November 1971
- Witnesses
- Historical records, investigators and observers; see case-specific account · Not reliably reducible to a single count
- Investigation
- Historical and research accounts reviewed from: FBI
Evidence in the record
Witness descriptions, a clip-on tie, parachute information and ransom serial numbers form the main evidence. Some ransom money was found beside the Columbia River in 1980, but its route there remains debated.
Competing explanations
Official and research context
The FBI has not established Cooper’s identity. Its 2016 resource decision did not constitute a solution.
Conventional explanations
He may have died during the jump or survived and evaded identification. Weather, equipment and uncertain landing geography constrain both scenarios. The FBI redirected investigative resources in 2016; that decision did not identify the hijacker.
Arguments that remain contested
No publicly verified identification accounts for the flight evidence and later ransom discovery.
Locations & timeline
Coordinates are representative. Area and route labels do not imply exact paths or object positions.
- Primary reference location
Portland–Seattle flight region
Date is the hijacking. The representative flight-region marker is not a claimed parachute landing point.
Representative case location · Approximate area radius: 250 km
45.590°, -122.600° · point · Regional reference only; not survey-grade
Record notes
Map coordinates are representative and do not establish an exact incident position.
Case-specific sources researched 8 September 2026. Further access/editorial review noted.
Original dataset status: unresolved