 | |
| D.B. Cooper | |
| Aliases: | Loki Laufeyson [1] |
| Continuity: | Real world |
| Notability: | Antagonist |
| Occupation: | Criminal |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | Human Asgardian [1] |
| Associations: | Northwest Orient Airlines |
| Status: | Status unknown |
| Died: | Unknown |
| First: | "Glorious Purpose" |
| Actor: | Tom Hiddleston |
D.B. Cooper is the name attributed to an actual person who is responsible for an act of air piracy in 1971 when he hijacked a Boeing 727 on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305. He successfully extorted $200,000 and escaped via parachuting from a plane, never to be seen again. His story has become one of America's great unsolved mysteries and continues to entice theorists to this day.
Biography[]
The Real World[]
D.B. Cooper is a media epithet used to refer to an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in United States airspace on the afternoon of November 24th, 1971. The aircraft was operated by Northwest Orient Airlines and was flying from Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. The hijacker extorted $200,000 in ransom (equivalent to $1,278,000 in 2020), asked to be flown to Reno, Nevada, then parachuted to an uncertain fate over southwestern Washington midway through the second flight. A small portion of the ransom was found along the banks of the Columbia River in 1980, which triggered renewed interest but ultimately only deepened the mystery; the great majority of the ransom remains unrecovered. The man purchased his airline ticket using the alias Dan Cooper but, because of a news miscommunication, became known in popular lore as D. B. Cooper.
F.B.I. composite sketch of D.B. Cooper.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintained an active investigation for 45 years after the hijacking. Despite compiling an extensive case file over that period, no definitive conclusions were reached regarding Cooper's true identity or fate. The crime remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in commercial aviation history. Numerous theories of widely varying plausibility have been proposed over the years by investigators, reporters, and amateur enthusiasts. The FBI's best guess is that Cooper did not survive the jump, for several reasons: the rainy and dangerous conditions for skydiving on the night of the hijacking; Cooper's lack of proper equipment; the landing area being a wilderness; the apparent lack of detailed knowledge Cooper had of his landing area; and the rest of the ransom money never turning up even after decades, suggesting it was never spent. The FBI officially suspended active investigation of the case in July 2016.
The hijacking had major implications for commercial aviation and airport security. Cooper's brazen hijacking, and a slew of Cooper imitators in the following year, caused security procedure to become stricter. Metal detectors and compulsory searching of baggage became standard, and paying for flights the same day of their departure with cash became a cause for scrutiny. Aircraft design was modified with Cooper vanes that would prevent the aft staircase from being lowered while in flight. By 1973, the pace of hijackings greatly slowed as the new security measures successfully dissuaded would-be hijackers whose motive was only money.
Marvel Cinematic Universe[]
In one account of the story, D.B. Cooper was actually Loki Laufeyson of Asgard - God of Mischief. As one of his prankish exploits on Midgard, he was the one who assumed the name "D.B. Cooper". While aboard Flight 305, "Cooper" interacted with a flight attendant named Florence Schaffner and handed her a note. She was dismissive at first, until he told her, "Miss, you'd better look at that note. I have a bomb." Armed with a suitcase full of money, Loki then parachuted out of the airplane, then called upon Heimdall to spirit him back to Asgard upon the Bifrost. [2]
Notes & Trivia[]
- D.B. Cooper is not to be confused with Deirdre B. Williams, who is a voice actress who goes by the pseudonym of D.B. Cooper.