A mysterious fugitive, a hijacked airplane and a daring mid-air escape. This is the extraordinary, real-life tale of one of the greatest unsolved heists in American history and a case that has taunted the FBI for decades. This documentary brings the stories of the four possible suspects to life through candid testimony, archive footage and stylised drama. Each account is gripping and highly plausible. But who is telling the truth, who is lying and, ultimately, who is DB Cooper?
Dan Cooper is the pseudonym of an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in United States airspace between Portland and Seattle on the afternoon of November 24, 1971. 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. He extorted $200,000 in ransom (equivalent to $1,260,000 in 2019) and parachuted to an uncertain fate. Despite an extensive manhunt and protracted FBI investigation, the perpetrator has never been located or identified. It remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in commercial aviation history.
I’d forgotten about this incident so I found a return to “the scene of the crime” fascinating - many of those involved are still alive and able to tell their story …
I watched this again last night and, compared to Netflix: D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! it seemed oddly deficient - there were 4 suspects put forward by (self-seeking) friends and relatives but no mention of Robert Rackshaw until the end when his face appeared on a poster amongst dozens of others.
The 4 had some tenuous claims - one was a deathbed confession recalled by an elderly woman, formerly the wife of Duane Weber, another was the emergence of memories her “bloodied” uncle LD Cooper, from the glamorous Marla (of uncertain age), yet another was a late-night confession from a Barbara Dayton that she was the skyjacker and had been “Bobby” before a sex change.
