On Thanksgiving eve (November 24) 1971, a man appeared out of nowhere at Portland International Airport. Over a black business suit, white shirt, narrow black tie, he wore a dark thin raincoat. His shoes were brown slip-on loafers. He carried a briefcase and wore wraparound shades. At the Northwest Airlines ticket counter he gave the name Dan Cooper. He paid $20 for a short flight north to Seattle, Washington. He said very little. He just made sure: “That’s a 727, isn’t it?” Along with 36 other passengers, he boarded the airliner.

   During takeoff he produced a handwritten note to the stewardess. It said he had a bomb and wanted $200,000 dollars and 2 parachutes.  He received the ransom in Seattle, released the other passengers, and made the flight crew takeoff for Mexico. He soon lowered the aft stairs— a unique feature of the Boeing 727— and near Portland parachuted into a stormy, dark night.

   The man calling himself Dan Cooper was never found nor identified. By a police and then press mistake his name became abbreviated to D.B. Cooper. With his cool manner and James Bond look, almost instantly he became glorified as a daring folk hero.

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