The hijacker known as D.B. Cooper has never been identified. He used the name Dan Cooper, took $200,000 and four parachutes from a Northwest Orient flight in 1971, then jumped from the aircraft and disappeared. A 2024 report about parachute-related items entering FBI evidence renewed attention—but did not establish that they belonged to Cooper.
1. Who was D.B. Cooper? His name was Dan Cooper
On November 24, 1971, a man bought a one-way ticket on Northwest Orient Flight 305 in Portland, Oregon, using the name Dan Cooper. The FBI says “D.B.” appears to have originated in press coverage. Agents also investigated a man with those initials, but determined he was not the hijacker. The hijacker’s actual identity remains unknown. FBI case history
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2. What did Cooper demand?
After boarding Flight 305, Cooper told a flight attendant he had a bomb and demanded $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills and four parachutes. In Seattle, the plane’s 36 passengers were released in exchange for the money and parachutes; crew members stayed aboard, and the aircraft took off again. The FBI’s account
3. What happened to D.B. Cooper?
A little after 8 p.m., somewhere between Seattle and Reno, Cooper jumped from the rear of the Boeing 727 with the ransom. The FBI says he took two parachutes, one of which was an instructional chute sewn shut, and used cord from another parachute to close the money bag. The pilots landed safely, but Cooper was gone. The evidence does not establish whether he survived the jump. FBI case history
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4. Was D.B. Cooper ever found?
No. The only recovered ransom was found in 1980, when a child discovered three bundles of twenty-dollar bills totaling $5,800. Their serial numbers matched the ransom. The FBI-hosted transcript describes the bills as the only Cooper cash ever recovered. Their location on the Columbia River does not, by itself, establish how they got there or what happened to Cooper. FBI case history · FBI video transcript
5. Why is the case back in the news?
In November 2024, Axios reported that FBI agents had taken a parachute, harness and skydiving logbook into evidence in September 2023. The items were reportedly found on property associated with the family of Richard McCoy, a former suspect. That report documents evidence collection, not authentication: it does not establish that the equipment belonged to Cooper or connect it to the 1971 hijacking. Axios Seattle, November 26, 2024
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What is the FBI’s status on the investigation?
In July 2016, after 45 years of investigation, the FBI said it was redirecting active resources to other priorities. It said tips and new investigative techniques had not produced a definitive identification, while inviting people with specific physical evidence connected to the parachutes or ransom money to contact a local FBI field office. The FBI’s case history records more than 800 suspects considered by the investigation’s five-year anniversary; that figure does not mean those suspects were proven guilty or that the case was solved. FBI Seattle’s 2016 update · FBI case history
What about Richard McCoy?
The FBI says Richard Floyd McCoy was ruled out because he did not match the near-identical descriptions provided by two flight attendants, among other reasons. The reported discovery on property associated with his family does not overturn that finding or prove a Cooper connection. FBI case history
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What remains unknown
- The hijacker’s identity.
- Whether he survived the jump.
- How the recovered ransom bills reached the Columbia River.
- Whether the parachute-related items reported in 2024 have any connection to the hijacking.
The established account ends with a man using the name Dan Cooper jumping from Flight 305 with the ransom. The identity, fate and meaning of the few recovered clues remain unresolved in the sources cited here.
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