After receiving $200,000 in ransom, did D. B. Cooper survive the parachuute jump from a Boeing 727 aircraft only wearing a brown suit and loafers in minus temperature weather on a Noovember night over Ariel, Oregon or is his skeleton still hanging ona tree?

I don't think he made it.  A kid found some of the money in 1980.  He wasn't dressed for the jump or the trek in the wilderness, and he had no solid plan of where he was going.  You always secretly root for people like him.  I do anyway.  But the odds were horribly against him.

Last night I was watching a programme on him, and I found myself seeing him as a hero in one form.

In the programme they picked up on that he may had a military background (Vietnam etc) that was the reason why he chose the army parachute.

Whats strange is they didnt ever find him....

I think he made it.........

Last night I was watching a programme on him, and I found myself seeing him as a hero in one form.

In the programme they picked up on that he may had a military background (Vietnam etc) that was the reason why he chose the army parachute.


Here is a song about DB Cooper by Roger McGuinn of the Byrds. It was on McGuinn's first solo album in 1973, not long after  the event occurred.  I recall McGuinn saying that Cooper was a folk hero of sorts and a "folk hero deserves a folk song", so he wrote this folkish sounding song about him. David Crosby sings the harmonies.

Roger McGuinn
"Bag Full Of Money"
1973

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKs8n9mR9LU

This is a fascinating story/event.  D.B. Cooper was a thief who stole money that didn't belong to him; I don't see him as a "folk hero", just a common criminal.

The fact that he was never caught & most of the money never knowingly retrieved has been something that people have been wondering about for almost 50 years.  Did he escape?!  Maybe, but maybe not.

That being said, what leads me to believe that Cooper probably died & that at least some of the money was actually scattered was the proof that some (but not all) of the bills were found in Washington State, back in 1980:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper

So, I suspect this may have happened:  Cooper jumped out of the plane & somehow died during the escape - i.e., either killed upon landing, possibly due to impact if the parachute didn't work - or died upon impact with a tree?!; another possibility is that he may have drowned if he fell into a body of water deep enough, etc.  If he didn't drown, his body was never found because he died in the wilderness, so possibly animals ate him; and/or he died in a remote area so his body was never found due to this. So, if that occurred - the backpack with the money somehow got torn and/or deteriorated over the years.  And, the bills eventually got scattered - and some who found them kept them (without telling anyone); and, there was one person who found some - who then revealed their existence (re: the bills found in 1980).

Another point - if he survived the landing from the plane, why was some of the money found later?! Unless he lost some of this in the process of jumping out of the plane?!

Interesting case, and something that I don't think will ever be definitively solved/answered.

It was on this day (November 24th) in 1971, that During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.

I saw a television program on DB Cooper last night, it showed how at least three different family units believe a male relative of theirs is DB Cooper.

After receiving $200,000 in ransom, did D. B. Cooper survive the parachuute jump from a Boeing 727 aircraft only wearing a brown suit and loafers in minus temperature weather on a Noovember night over Ariel, Oregon or is his skeleton still hanging ona tree?

We dont know what we had on under the suit.... Probably had long underwear on which he certainly should have had. As long as a ones got a pocket knife,warm clothes and a place to sleep you can live indefinetly out there,its possible,you could do it...

I just feel like he is dead. Its just a gut feeling.

I just feel like he is dead. Its just a gut feeling.


Well it's certainly likely that he would be NOW. Did he survive the jump is the question.

There is, or was, a short on this subject, but the conclusion was not conclusive.

There is, or was, a short on this subject, but the conclusion was not conclusive.


At this point there have been numerous documentaries and a few fictionalized movies. All are inconclusive. The most recent is a Netflix documentary that goes on for several episodes.