D.B. Cooper Update: Why FBI Reopened The 53-Year-Old Plane Hijacking Case

The discovery of a parachute possibly linked to D.B. Cooper, the unidentified man who hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight in the 1970s, has reignited the FBI’s investigation.

Cooper demanded and obtained four parachutes as part of his ransom conditions. The parachutes included two primary chutes and two reserve chutes, giving him options for his escape.

The request fueled speculation Cooper wanted to create the illusion he might take a hostage. This strategy likely deterred anyone from tampering with the equipment, ensuring his plan remained intact.

The Washington State History Museum houses one of the four parachutes.

“Cooper demanded four parachutes during the hijacking,” museum director Derek Nguyen told Newsweek. “When the exchange was made in Seattle, he was provided with four parachutes. He jumped from the plane with two parachutes and left two behind on the plane. We have one of the two parachutes left behind on the plane in our collection.”

A parachute has now been discovered by the siblings of a prime suspect. For a time, the FBI focused on Richard Floyd McCoy II, a suspect arrested for a similar hijacking just five months after Cooper’s crime.

In 2020, McCoy’s children, Chanté and Richard III “Rick” McCoy, reached out to YouTube star Dan Gryder, who is conducting his own investigation into the Cooper case. He had contacted them earlier, but the siblings waited until after their mother’s death to reach out.

Gryder, who has been investigating the case for over 20 years, chronicled his findings in a two-part series on his YouTube channel, “Probable Cause,” released in 2021 and 2022. The series reveals his process of connecting the evidence, including footage of him uncovering the parachute in an outbuilding on the McCoy family property in North Carolina in July 2022, according to Cowboy State Daily.

After watching Gryder’s first two videos, FBI agents reached out to both Rick and Gryder to inspect the parachute. It was the first action taken by the agency since it closed the case in 2016, pending new evidence, the outlet reported.

“Although the FBI will no longer actively investigate this case, should specific physical evidence emerge—related specifically to the parachutes or the money taken by the hijacker—individuals with those materials are asked to contact their local FBI field office,” the FBI said in the 2016 press release.

In September 2023, Gryder and Rick traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to meet with FBI agents, who collected the harness and parachute as evidence, along with a skydiving logbook found by Chanté. The logbook aligned with the timeline of both hijackings.

Gryder recently released a third video, “D.B. Cooper: Deep FBI Update,” in which he revealed the FBI’s recent efforts related to his discoveries.

Newsweek contacted the FBI to inquire whether they are still investigating following the recent discoveries.

What Happened To D.B. Cooper?

On November 21, 1971, Cooper bought a one-way ticket to Seattle. While the Boeing 727 flight was in the air, Cooper handed air hostess Florence Schaffner a note, claiming he had a bomb inside his briefcase.

After examining what appeared to be a makeshift bomb — its authenticity remains unclear — Schaffner took the note to the flight’s captain, William A. Scott.

The neatly typed note demanded four parachutes and $200,000 in $20 bills.

Scott safely landed the plane at the Seattle-Tacoma airport, where the passengers disembarked. However, Cooper, four members of the flight crew, and the pilot remained on board.

The authorities delivered Cooper’s parachutes and money to the plane. Cooper then ordered the plane to fly toward Mexico City. Mid-flight, he demanded all the staff move to the cockpit.

After speaking with the flight crew over the plane’s internal telephone, Cooper stopped communicating with them. When the plane landed, he was gone. Authorities believe he jumped out of the back of the plane, parachute and cash in hand.

Airport security in the 1970s did not match today’s standards, and investigators never determined exactly when Cooper left the plane, making it difficult to pinpoint his landing spot.

Who Was D.B. Cooper?

Officially, D.B. Cooper has never been found.

The FBI launched an investigation to locate the mysterious individual and interviewed more than 800 suspects by 1976.

Robert Rackstraw, a former U.S. Army paratrooper, became another suspect. Many believed he could have used his top-tier military training to hijack the plane and parachute out successfully.

Rackstraw frequently got into trouble with the law. In 1978, he tried to fake his own death by crashing a rented airplane into Monterey Bay, California. Investigators found him a few months later, and they charged him with stealing an aircraft and passing bad checks. He spent two years in prison for his crimes.

Other suspects over the years included Kenneth Peter Christiansen, Jack Coffelt, Lynn Doyle Cooper, Barbara Dayton, William Gossett, Robert Lepsy, John List, Ted Mayfield, Sheridan Peterson, Robert Rackstraw, Walter R. Reca, William J. Smith and Duane Weber, but they were all eventually ruled out.

How Much Money Did D.B. Cooper Steal?

Cooper hijacked a plane, demanded $200,000 in cash, and successfully stole the money, disappearing into the night after parachuting from the aircraft.

Do you have a story Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com