Editing D. B. Cooper (section)

=== Cooper's fate ===
From the beginning of their investigation, FBI agents did not believe Cooper survived his jump. The FBI provided several reasons and facts to support their conclusion: Cooper's apparent lack of skydiving experience, his lack of proper equipment for his jump and survival, the temperature and inclement weather on the night of the hijacking, the wooded terrain into which Cooper jumped, his lack of knowledge of his landing area, and the unused ransom money.

First, Cooper appeared to lack the necessary [[skydiving]] knowledge, skills, and experience for the type of jump he attempted. Carr said: "We originally thought Cooper was an experienced jumper, perhaps even a paratrooper."<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=D.B. Cooper Redux Help Us Solve the Enduring Mystery |url=https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2007/december/dbcooper_123107 |access-date=June 6, 2024 |website=FBI.gov |archive-date=June 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603141129/https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2007/december/dbcooper_123107 |url-status=live }}</ref> He further said: "We concluded after a few years this was simply not true. No experienced parachutist would have jumped in the pitch-black night, in the rain, with a {{convert|172|mph|m/s|abbr=on|disp=sqbr}} wind in his face wearing loafers and a trench coat. It was simply too risky."<ref name="HelpSolve" /> Alternatively, skydiving instructor Earl Cossey, who supplied the parachutes, testified Cooper would not have needed extensive experience to survive the jump and "anyone who had six or seven practice jumps could accomplish this".{{r|vault_64|page=203|quote='He said that anyone who had six or seven practice jumps could accomplish this as the first five jumps would be on a static line and the subsequent jumps would be free fall.'}} However, Cossey also noted jumping at night drastically increased the risk of injury, and without jump boots, Cooper would probably have suffered severe ankle or leg injuries upon landing.{{r|vault_64|page=203|quote='It was his opinion that the skyjacker would suffer severe ankle and or leg injuries from this jump. Mr.&nbsp;Cossey said the fact the hijacker wore street shoes would also increase the chance that he would be injured on landing as the most experienced jumpers wear jump boots or some rigid ankle support.'}}

Second, Cooper did not appear to have the equipment necessary for either his jump or his survival in the wilderness. He failed to bring or request a helmet,<ref name=indystar>{{cite web |last=Evans |first=Tim |date=August 3, 2018 |title=Here are 11&nbsp;possible suspects in the D.B. Cooper mystery, including some who falsely confessed |newspaper=[[The Indianapolis Star]] |language=en-US |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2018/08/03/db-cooper-suspects-include-robert-rackstraw-false-confessions-woman/865813002/ |url-status=live |access-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411045415/https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2018/08/03/db-cooper-suspects-include-robert-rackstraw-false-confessions-woman/865813002/ |archive-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref>{{sfn|Gunther|1985|p=15}} and jumped into a 15&nbsp;°F (−9&nbsp;°C) wind at 10,000&nbsp;feet (3,000&nbsp;m) in November over Washington without proper protection against the extreme [[wind chill]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Gene |date=November 25, 2011 |title=D.B. Cooper enigma still fascinates |newspaper=USA Today |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/USCP/PNI/NEWS/2011-11-25-BCUSFEADB-Cooper40th-Anniversary_ST_U.htm |url-status=live |access-date=August 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723054818/http://www.usatoday.com/USCP/PNI/NEWS/2011-11-25-BCUSFEADB-Cooper40th-Anniversary_ST_U.htm |archive-date=July 23, 2012}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1" /> Although the contents of Cooper's {{convert|4|x|12|x|14|in|cm|abbr=on|adj=on}}{{r|vault_64|page=9}} paper bag are unknown, he did not use any of the bag's contents to assist him during any part of the hijacking, so the FBI speculated the bag contained items he needed for his jump, such as boots, gloves, and goggles.{{r|vault_69|page=270|quote="He wonders if this paper bag could have contained a jump suit and a pair of boots."}}

Third, Cooper did not have an [[accomplice]] waiting on the ground to help him escape. Such an arrangement would have required both a precisely timed jump and the flight crew's cooperation to follow a predetermined flight path, but Cooper did not give the flight crew a specific path. Moreover, the flight crew proposed—and Cooper agreed—to alter the flight path, and fly from Seattle to Reno for refueling,{{sfn|Himmelsbach|Worcester|1986|p=35}} and Cooper had no way of keeping an accomplice apprised of his changed plans. The low cloud cover and lack of visibility to the ground further complicated Cooper's ability to determine his location, establish a bearing, or see his landing zone.<ref name="HelpSolve" />

Finally, the ransom money was never spent, and the recovered portion was found unused.<ref name="isodbc" /> Carr said: "Diving into the wilderness without a plan, without the right equipment, in such terrible conditions, he probably never even got his chute open."<ref name="HelpSolve" /> FBI agent Richard Tosaw theorized Cooper became incapacitated from hypothermia during his jump, landed in the Columbia River, and drowned.{{efn|
Retired FBI agent Richard Tosaw made a second career of searching for Cooper, telling his story in a book, ''D.B.&nbsp;Cooper, Dead or Alive?'' Tosaw came to the conclusion that Cooper landed in the Columbia River and that his body long ago decomposed. That theory is supported by Soderlind. Tosaw believes Cooper went down in the Columbia "like a greased anvil".{{Quote without source|date=February 2025}} As for the recovered money, he theorizes that those three packets had been in Cooper's pocket: That he had taken them from the bag before jumping because he had offered the flight attendants a 'tip', holding out some $20&nbsp;bills. His offer was refused."{{Clarify|date=February 2025|reason=Close-quote with no corresponding open-quote; impossible to determine the scope of the quoted material (and the source of the quote is not identified)}}{{Quote without source|date=February 2025}}
}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Cooper's brazen crime still celebrated |date=November 27, 1994 |website=Tampa Bay |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1994/11/27/cooper-s-brazen-crime-still-celebrated/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813084256/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1994/11/27/cooper-s-brazen-crime-still-celebrated/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 13, 2022 }}</ref><ref name=nytimes/><ref>{{cite news |title=Parachute found, but packer doubts it was D.B.&nbsp;Cooper's |website=[[AP News]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/39abcfbfa99eaed3326b1d70b0d6d413 |access-date=August 13, 2022 |archive-date=August 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813084256/https://apnews.com/article/39abcfbfa99eaed3326b1d70b0d6d413 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, FBI agents were not unanimous in their assessments of Cooper's ultimate fate. A senior FBI agent anonymously opined in a 1976 article in ''[[The Seattle Times]]'', "I think [Cooper] made it. I think he slept in his own bed that night. It was a clear night. A lot of the country is pretty flat&nbsp;... he could have just walked out. Right down the road. Hell, they weren't even looking for him there at the time. They thought he was somewhere else. He could just walk down the road."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hawkins |first1=Robert |title=D.B. Cooper, is he at the bottom of Lake Merwin or walking the streets? |agency=The Seattle Times |date=October 3, 1976}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/D-B-Cooper%20/d.b.-cooper-part-38/view |title=Seattle Times Article |date=October 6, 1976 |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |page=203 |access-date=October 16, 2022 |archive-date=October 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016221758/https://vault.fbi.gov/D-B-Cooper%20/d.b.-cooper-part-38/view |url-status=live }}</ref>

Conclusive evidence of Cooper's death has not been found.{{sfn|Colbert|Szollosi|2016|p=186}} In the months after Cooper's hijacking, [[D. B. Cooper copycat hijackings|five men attempted copycat hijackings]], and all five survived their parachute escapes.{{sfn|Himmelsbach|Worcester|1986|p=83}} The survival of the copycats—several of whom had circumstances and conditions similar to Cooper's jump—forced FBI lead case agent Ralph Himmelsbach to reevaluate his opinions and theories regarding Cooper's chances for survival. Himmelsbach cited three examples of hijackers who survived jumps in conditions similar to Cooper's escape: Martin McNally, [[Frederick Hahneman]], and Richard LaPoint.{{efn|
{{harvnb|Himmelsbach|Worcester|1986|p=79}}: "The similarities to the Cooper case were striking, and immediately raised doubts about the basic premise I had held from early in the investigation: Cooper most likely died in the jump."
}}

Hijacker Martin McNally jumped using only a reserve chute, without protective gear, at night, over Indiana.{{sfn|Himmelsbach|Worcester|1986|p=79}} Unlike Cooper, who appeared to be familiar with parachutes, McNally had to be shown how to put on his parachute.{{r|vault_64|page=156|quote=She also commented that he appeared to be completely familiar with the parachutes which had been furnished to him.}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Wicentowski |first=Danny |date=January 31, 2017 |title=The final flight of Martin McNally |newspaper=Detroit Metro Times |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/news/the-final-flight-of-martin-mcnally-2483257 |access-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726032045/https://www.metrotimes.com/news/the-final-flight-of-martin-mcnally-2483257 |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, McNally's pilot increased the airspeed to {{convert|320|kn|km/h}}, nearly twice the airspeed of Flight&nbsp;305 at the time of Cooper's jump. The increased windspeed caused a violent jump for McNally: the money bag was immediately torn from him, "yet he had landed unharmed except for some superficial scratches and bruises".{{efn|
{{harvnb|Himmelsbach|Worcester|1986|p=79}}: "Like Cooper, he had not asked for a jump suit or any other protective gear, yet had landed unharmed except for some superficial scratches and bruises."
}}

49-year-old [[Frederick Hahneman]] hijacked a 727 in Pennsylvania and survived after jumping at night into a [[Honduras|Honduran]] jungle.{{sfn|Himmelsbach|Worcester|1986|p=83}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Hijacker gets life, with ransom still hidden |agency=The Commercial Appeal |date=September 30, 1972}}</ref> A third copycat, Richard LaPoint, hijacked a 727 in Nevada. Wearing only trousers, a shirt, and cowboy boots, LaPoint jumped into the freezing January wind over northern Colorado and landed in the snow.<ref>{{cite news |last=Miniclier |first=Kit |date=January 21, 2001 |title=Skyjacker a Colorado oddity? |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0121g.htm |newspaper=Denver Post |access-date=July 25, 2022 |archive-date=June 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605134648/https://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0121g.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2008, Himmelsbach admitted he originally thought Cooper had only a fifty-percent chance of survival, but subsequently revised his assessment.<ref>{{cite news |last=Frazier |first=Joseph B. |date=March 27, 2008 |title=Skyjacker mystery resurfaces |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Daily Herald |place=Arlington Heights, IL |quote='The night it happened, I thought he had a 50&nbsp;percent chance,' he said. '...&nbsp;It has gone down since then.' |url=https://www.dailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?avis=da&date=20080327&category=news&lopenr=803279901&ref=ar |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408043338/https://www.dailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?avis=da&date=20080327&category=news&lopenr=803279901&ref=ar |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=D.B.&nbsp;Cooper, if he's alive, has one more year to go |newspaper=Walla Walla Union Bulletin |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=November 24, 1975 |quote= 'My personal guess is that there is no better than a 50&nbsp;percent chance that he's alive.' }}</ref>

By 1976, most published legal analyses concurred the impending expiration of the [[statute of limitations]] for prosecution of the hijacker would make little difference.<ref>{{cite news |last=Frazier |first=Joe |date=November 13, 1976 |title=Sky thief: Bandit who stole $200,000 in 1971 still being sought |place=Pittsburgh, PA |newspaper=Post-Gazette |page=B-1}}</ref> Since the statute's interpretation varies from case to case and from court to court, a prosecutor could argue Cooper had forfeited [[legal immunity]] on any of several valid technical grounds.<ref>{{cite report |publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]] |series=CRS Report for Congress |title=Statutes of Limitation in Federal Criminal Cases: An overview |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31253.pdf |website=FAS.org |access-date=March 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924134307/http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31253.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref> In November 1976, a Portland [[grand jury]] returned an indictment ''[[Trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' against "[[John Doe]], ''a.k.a.'' Dan Cooper" for air piracy and violation of the [[Hobbs Act]].<ref name=Denson1996>{{cite news |last=Denson |first=Bryan |author-link=Bryan Denson |date=November 24, 1996 |title=D.B.&nbsp;Cooper legend lives |website=Oregonlive.com |publisher=Portland Oregonian |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/special/current/dbcooper.ssf?/special/current/dbcooper_story1.frame |access-date=March 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030920153821/http://www.oregonlive.com/special/current/dbcooper.ssf?%2Fspecial%2Fcurrent%2Fdbcooper_story1.frame |archive-date=September 20, 2003}}</ref> The indictment formally enabled prosecution to be continued, should the hijacker be apprehended at any time in the future.<ref name=Denson1996/>