On November 24, 1971, a man identifying himself as Dan Cooper boarded Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 from Portland to Seattle. He was dressed in a black suit and tie, carrying a briefcase, and appeared to be a businessman.
Shortly after takeoff, Cooper handed a flight attendant a note, which she initially ignored, thinking it was just his phone number. However, when he whispered to her that he had a bomb in his briefcase, she read the note and saw that it was indeed a demand for $200,000 and four parachutes.
The plane landed in Seattle, where the ransom was delivered, and Cooper released all the passengers and crew except for a few key personnel. Once the plane took off again, Cooper ordered the pilot to fly to Mexico at a low altitude.
Somewhere over the Pacific Northwest, Cooper lowered the rear stairs of the plane and jumped out into the night with the ransom money and two of the parachutes. Despite an extensive manhunt and investigation, Cooper was never found.
The identity of DB Cooper has been the subject of much speculation and investigation over the years. Several suspects have been named, but no conclusive evidence has ever been found to definitively prove who he was or what happened to him after he jumped from the plane. The FBI still has an open case file on DB Cooper to this day.