FBI: Parachute Isn't Famed Skyjacker's

(AP)  A parachute found buried in southwestern Washington was not used by plane hijacker D.B. Cooper when he bailed out over the Pacific Northwest in 1971, the FBI said Tuesday.

The agency came to its conclusion after speaking with parachute experts and digging where children found the parachute early last month, said Laura Laughlin, special agent in charge of the FBI's Seattle division.

Earlier, the man who packed the four chutes given to the mysterious hijacker said they could not have been used by Cooper. Earl Cossey examined the found parachute for the FBI on Friday.

He told The Columbian of Vancouver that the newly found chute "absolutely, for sure" could not have been one of the four that he provided.

"The D.B. Cooper parachute was made of nylon," he said. "This 1945 parachute was made of silk."

Cossey sold parachutes at a skydiving operation in the 1970s and provided the chutes that the FBI gave Cooper.

Agents found more fabric and parachute lines as they dug at the site, but no harness, which would have provided a serial number and possible source of the find, FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said.

The FBI launched a publicity campaign last fall, hoping to generate new tips to solve the 36-year-old mystery. The torn, tangled parachute was found about a month ago by children along a dirt road near Amboy.

A man who gave his name as Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient flight from Portland, Ore., to Seattle in November 1971, claiming he had a bomb.

After the plane landed at Seattle, he released the passengers in exchange for $200,000 and four parachutes and asked to be flown to Mexico. He then bailed out of the jet as it flew somewhere near the Oregon line.

Some of the cash has been found but his fate is unknown, and investigators doubt he survived.

[mjm117]

This mans life should not be celebrated,for he is nothing but a criminal,and a terrorist.If he is dead, may he rot in hell.


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Posted by noaanhc at 12:18 PM : Apr 02, 2008



Wow...have much of an opinion?

[noaanhc]

He was given $200,000,all in 20 dollar bills.The FBI has a copy of everyone of the serial numbers on all those bills and since 1971,NONE of those bills has EVER turned up anywhere in the world,so this leads to 2 possibilites,he survived the jump,but lost the money on the way down,or as the FBI and also myself truly believe,this miserible terrorist hijacker was killed when he hit the ground.

This mans life should not be celebrated,for he is nothing but a criminal,and a terrorist.If he is dead, may he rot in hell.

[sgt2dog]

Your all wrong. The man knew what he was doing, and he got away scott free. The FBI was clueless from the begining, and this man who is not who he claimed to be - made away with most of the money!

Dude - whoever you are - you did it & they can''t stand it!

Cooper got away with $200,000.
I wonder how much this government of ours has spent trying to find him. I would puke if I knew.

[excoachken]

They knew it didn''t belong to D.B. Cooper, because it had the name Ken Lay embroidered on the side, it was golden, and chuck full of millions of $$$ that once belonged to Enron investors.

[feelfree1]

Re: "And who says the FBI is telling the truth?"

Posted by missoulah

That''s a good question, considering that the FBI is mostly made up of morons and terrorists, but the guy that packed the parachutes confirmed that the parachute found was the wrong material, and he confirmed this fact prior to this idiotic "revelation" by the FBI goons.

[missoulah]

And who says the FBI is telling the truth?

[feelfree1]

Maybe CBS should consider investigating their stories first, rather than just parroting whatever idiotic claim that someone might make, and presenting it as news.

Just a thought.

[thisandthat1]

My guess is that "Dan''s" skeleton is dangling way, way up in a tree far out in the wilderness there in Washington state.