The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper

Narrator: On Wednesday, November 24, 1971,

at 6:27 p.m., aboard flight 305

from Portland to Seattle,

the following event actually took place.

What happened after that is anybody's guess.

Pilot: Seattle Center, this is NPA flight 242.

Our friend has ordered us to descend

from flight level 230 to 10,000 feet at 170 knots.

Operator: Roger.

Do you know his intentions?

Pilot: They are unclear.

We are flying direct to Redmond VOR.

Intend to intercept Victor 165er direct to Reno.

We have just been ordered to lower our gear

and deploy rear exit hatch.

Operator: Roger. Repeat, do you know his intentions?

Pilot: Not at this point. Over.

Yahoo!

Let's go.

Man on PA: Attention, all personnel.

There will be a short delay

of all incoming and outgoing flights.

Please remain inside the terminal.

Let's go.

Let's get out of here.

Let's go. Move, move, move!

I got it.

Cover that back ramp!

- Let's go! Slide, slide! - Jump, jump!

- Jump! Jump! - Has anybody seen him?

Get out! Whoa!

Come on, ma'am.

Woman: I'm still in here.

Don't forget me!

- Man: Freeze! - I'm still here.

All right, fella. Just take it easy, all right?

He's not on the aircraft. He went out the back door. He bailed out.

But you got a lady in the can here,

and you got a bomb on the seat.

Who the hell are you?

I'm Bill Gruen, General Indemnity Insurance,

and we're on the hook for that 200 grand.

Now, I'd like to put my hands down

and get this lady out of here.

What I suggest is you get your bomb boys up here

and get 'em up fast, all right?

- Somebody please help me. - Man: Bomb squad!

What's your name in there?

- Denise. - Denise?

It'll be just a few seconds

because things are a little bit tense out here.

- Denise: Is that bomb gonna blow up? - There it is.

- I certainly hope not. - Denise: Please hurry.

Don't worry. We've already notified your next of kin.

Amateur night. Easy.

Oh, God.

It's a goddamn joke.

Stereo wires, highway flares, and Play-Doh.

Whoo-wee! Colder than Muskogee out here tonight.

Well, ain't it?

I feel kinda toasty.

Gimme that.

Man, if you saw a deer,

you wouldn't know what the hell to do with it.

Hell, I've seen lots of deer tonight.

No, no.

How was your flight, Mr. Cooper?

Well, I'll tell you,

the service wasn't too good, and it was a little bit bumpy,

but four parachutes and $200,000 in cash

ain't a bad trade for two cans of Play-Doh

and some stereo wire, you know what I mean?

Now, maintain discipline at all times.

You look good.

Wanna start a revolution?

Who says you can't take it with ya?

What do ya need, friend?

Bill Gruen from General Indemnity Insurance.

My company represents the airlines.

- Do you want the local police for that? - For what?

Man: I think we oughta close off

that whole northern Oregon forest.

Deer hunting season opens dawn tomorrow.

There'll be 10,000 hunters in there.

He's figured all the angles.

Why do you think he asked you for four parachutes?

I don't know. Maybe if he'd only asked for one,

we'd have given him a Roman candle.

But I thought he might make somebody jump with him,

so I said make sure all four work.

Woman: I've answered that question a million times now.

She said he was wearing a "nothing" suit.

Man: That isn't what the other one said.

You don't know what he looked like anyway.

He was cute, kind of.

Doesn't look like him at all, not at all.

Sure, it does.

You're blind.

I saw him better.

Thanksgiving holiday, the flight's fully booked,

but two-thirds of the people don't show up for the plane.

That's too high.

Man: Phony reservations. No coincidence.

Man #2: Are you an expert? Nobody ever did this before.

Woman: Jesus, 200 grand. Nobody got hurt.

Oh, hell.

Half your ideas are pure genius.

The rest are pure shit.

Man on radio: Chopper 1 to Command.

The brush is very thick. Request permission

to follow logging roads or the river. Over.

Command: Command to Chopper 1, stay on the trees.

We're still looking for a parachute.

It might have a body hanging--

Chopper 1: Going to make another pass along the north fork.

How about an accent? Regional or foreign?

No. I-- nothing you'd notice.

Clothes?

Just a business suit.

You know, like a businessman.

- Mm-hmm. - Except for the bracelet.

What do you mean a bracelet?

You mean he was a transvestite hijacker?

Well, I-- it was a bracelet.

Primitive.

Black wire.

Black wire?

Yeah, a black wire.

Anything like this?

That's it. What is that?

Elephant hair. Montagnard. Vietnamese.

What did he use to cut the parachute cord

he tied you in the can with?

A knife from his boot.

That scared me.

When he said to get into the lavatory,

I got right in.

That's when he said,

"Don't worry about a thing.

We've already notified your next of kin."

"And they've already spent the insurance money?"

That's my line.

Now, we're gonna need your help, Denise,

to look at some pictures, some classified material.

I have got to get some sleep, okay?

- Maybe tomorrow I could-- - No, no, no. Now.

We're offering a reward. 10% of everything he took.

Everything.

Money?

Meanwhile, in this country,

law officers continue to search for a man

who is perhaps the cleverest

and certainly the most audacious outlaw

in recent memory.

This is the second day

of the mysterious and dramatic disappearance

of a man using the alias "D.B. Cooper."

There are 3,000 armed men scouring that forest now.

Unfortunately, 2,800 are would-be hunters

out for the opening of the deer season.

So, careful, D.B.

What's going on here?

Can I see some identification?

Yes, sir, Lieutenant. Uh, hunting license be all right?

That'll be fine.

Man: You hunters keep them guns down, please.

Man: Nothing over here.

- See anything yet, Sarge? - Nothing up here!

Come over here. I wanna show you something.

This won't bite.

Man: A bit of information coming through

for you now, Mr. Gruen.

Yeah.

Yeah?

Okay, thank you.

Man: You backorder that 50 dozen uniforms?

Man #2: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did.

No.

No.

No way.

Unh-uh.

No. Unh-uh.

Cooper's a lot cuter than these guys.

- ( woman laughing ) - ( water splashing )

Not here!

Not here!

Aah!

Aah!

Jesus, I am sorry!

I-- I mean, I thought you were--

Damn it! Are you all right?

What the hell you think you're doing?

Who me? I was hunting.

Well, what're you hunting, us?

No, no. You see, it's my first time

and, well, I just didn't think there'd be people

all the way up here, you know?

I mean, you do know it's deer hunting season, don't ya?

When? Now?

Absolutely. As of this morning.