You can tell its a slow news day in the ol' KING 5 newsroom when DB Cooper stories and theorys again resurface for yet another go at keeping viewers from clicking over to King of Queens reruns on 11..
I think on dead news days when nothings going on, KING should just re-run the tape of the SLO-MO-SHUN blowover on Lake Washington a few dozen times during the newscast. People never get tired of seeing that...

Never mind the pessimistic comments of ledog3.

Clues about the ultimate fate of the infamous but legendary D.B. Cooper remain fascinating to most viewers. From initial appearances, Cooper seemed to successfully pull off the first ever "skyjacking" right in our own backyard. Though certainly not to be esteemed, he is an undeniable part of our NW history.

Think back to the triumphant discovery of the remains of George Mallory on Mount Everest in 1999, who had attempted to climb that peak with Sandy Irvine in 1924. Many still speculate that they succeeded.

This might not be D.B.'s parachute since some of the ransom money was found a few years ago much to the north.... but this might be one of the four parachutes he tossed out to confuse the planes that were following him!!!!

DB Cooper is quite a puzzle. Why would someone go to so much trouble to hijack a plane to obtain US$200,000, then effectively commit suicide by jumping out the back of a 727 in appalling weather over wooded countryside?

Here are some plausible and not-so plausible scenarios.

SCENARIOS 1-3: He made it!
SCENARIOS 4-7: He bought it.

Scenario 1: Escape on landing. Everyone assumes he actually jumped out of the plane. Perhaps he made a getaway once the plane landed. It was dark after all. Maybe the parachutes were for padding as he rolled off the stairway as the plane landed.

Plausibility: Low. The airport was apparently surrounded by police, and if he did get away some trace should have been found of the money by now. Not to mention bits of parachute on the runway.

Scenario 2: Delayed exit from the plane. If he did jump, did he actually jump at 2013hrs or did he delay his jump until later in the flight (which flew for another 2 hours plus) due to the conditions? The pressure gauge evidence may not be reliable as the plane was depressurised, or perhaps what it captured was either the stairs being lowered or Cooper jettisoning other items (the briefcase containing the “bomb” perhaps?).

Plausibility: Low. Even if the gauge is just registering him lowering the rear stairs, in order to survive he still had to jump from the plane in the dark, at low altitude. I don't fancy his chances, but he could have survived under this scenario. However, this leaves us wth the problem of the money that was later found at Columbia River in 1980. This could be explained by suggesting that he either threw or lost at least US$5800 out of the plane when he lowered the rear stairs. Disposing of some of the money in this way could have been intended as a means of throwing people off the scent as to his actual exit point, nor is it that out of the question that he lost the money given that once the rear stairs had been lowered there would have been considerable force acting on any loose objects. However, if either scenario had eventuated, surely the notes would have been scattered over a wide area, and not bundled together with rubber bands as they were.

Scenario 3: Hijack was an FBI training exercise. DB Cooper was an FBI agent who was testing existing security procedures. On landing the FBI whisked him away.

Plausibility: Conspiracy theories aside, this is unlikely.

Scenario 4: Estimated landing zone is wrong. He landed outside the presumed search area.

Plausibility: Possible. Given the plane was being buffeted by high winds, and as above, we probably don't know exactly where he got off or if his chute deployed fully, partially, or not at all. The failure to find any trace of Cooper lends weight to the argument. However, if the parachute found in late March 2008 is his, this would rule this scenario out, unless the parachute was jettisoned as in scenario 3.

Scenario 5: His body was found by persons unknown who kept the money. Why was his body never found? Perhaps it was, and the money was kept by persons unknown and his body then buried.

Plausibility: Possible. However, if his body was found and the money retrieved by persons unknown, why were the notes never put back in circulation?Why has no-one come forward with the story?

Scenario 6: Insanity. DB Cooper was insane and he effectively committed suicide by jumping out over Oregon. He died on impact. His body was never found because his estimated landing zone is a matter of educated guesswork and they were looking in the wrong place.

Plausibility: Moderate. Still no body or money apart from the US$5800 found later on.

Scenario 7: Parachute failure. DB Cooper was supplied with 4 parachutes. Two chutes he left behind on the plane, one of these he had cut to use as ties for the money bag. Of the remaining chutes, one was an unusable dummy chute. If he jumped with this, he is as dead as a dodo. If the chute they found was his, and was the working chute then DB Cooper is splattered all over the countryside.

Plausibility: A 50:50 chance.

Cheerio then