Kamkisky

That’s why I’m asking. What’s off about it?

Suggested Phoenix. Said no to SF/LA. Agreed to Reno. Is this it? There’s a pattern here.

Which airports did he deny? SF/LA/any others? Which airports did he suggest?

Yes. They thought about it. And clearly they weren’t thinking like a parajacker, they didn’t even know why he wanted to be unpressurized. Just because they hadn’t put the dots together doesn’t mean Cooper would have been cool with a coastal route. There is exactly zero reason why a parajacker would want a costly route over the rugged PNW coast at night. Not a single reason. There however many very good reason to tell the pilots no if they tried it.

You are hyper focused on one element. I’m looking at the pattern of behavior. That’s that gap here. If you can figure out what Cooper was thinking in the moments he saw the chutes that’d be great. I have no idea how you can do that.

You're just not accepting the answer. I make no claim on this subject. I don't know if he knew it was a bailout rig or not. While that would tell us more about his parachuting knowledge there is no path to figuring it out without knowing who Cooper was. You can't get to that conclusion with the evidence at hand. I also am not ranking the items I mentioned, merely pointing out he accepted good enough several times. He was flexible. This points away from a highly planned special ops type operation, it also points towards someone who has done similar robbery/hostage things before. He knew what mattered and he stuck to those things and he knew time mattered and he pushed to go quickly.

Again, this is not the case. The good enough theory only states he found the parachute good enough to not ask for a different one. That’s it regarding the chute. He did the same good enough behaviors with the money bag, aft stairs at take off, Reno, switching to Tina, etc. He was flexible, focused on a goal and willing to bend if that help expedite his goal. Cooper only needs the money and a way to attach it, a chute, depressurization cabin, flaps/gear down, staying under 10k, a way to open the aft stairs and for the plane to go South. He wants those things as quickly as possible. Everything else is negotiable. He got those things and jumped.

If as you claim Cooper didn't reject the bailout rig due to being impatient aka "get the show on the road" he must have known it was a bailout rig.. that is an assumption. Don’t you see the leap you made? My good enough theory is agnostic on if he knew it was a bailout rig or not. There is no assumption. I make no claim to know. The issue is whether Cooper knew it was a bailout rig and jumped anyway,,, There’s no way to determine that from available data. It’s going to be a fruitless endeavor. It’s better to look at the pattern of behavior vs one little isolated detail. He did a lot of things that fit the good enough theory. That tells us about him.

Kamkisky claimed Cooper knew because he said "get the show on the road",, logical non-sequitur. Thats not even remotely close to what I said. People can read it.

Thanks. I'm thinking about a communication device. Some options in that era could weigh up to 25-30 pounds and are square/rectangular, and would fit perfectly in the square/rectangle mystery bag and would explain the pizza box style way of holding it. If he put it in the briefcase, hooked up to the battery, he'd want to take it with him. Under this scenario he is jumping with the 22 pounds of cash plus at least that much more. Let's say 50 pounds all in besides his body weight and the parachute. Is that doable? The flat briefcase would make the backstop for the odd money bag of shifting bricks, giving it stability. He'd wrap the briefcase in paracord like he did the money bag, then weave paracord in and out like knitting, and tie the briefcase to his arms/parachute shoulder straps and harness style around his thighs, again probably leveraging the chute straps. He'd do the same knitting technique with the money bag, cinching that to the briefcase. He'd use a couple different strands of cord to do the knitting so it's not a single point of failure for either item. Presto...a belly bag with all the gear he needs. Is that concept viable or just the babbling of a someone who has never put on a parachute?

I’m claiming on the priority list it didn’t rank high enough to bother either way. It was good enough. Just like the money bag was good enough. Just like Reno was good enough. Just like taking off with the aft stairs up was good enough. There’s a pattern here. What wasn’t good enough was waiting around for a flight plan…nah, they need to pick that **** up in the air. He prioritized things. He was wanting to get off the damn ground. I don’t blame him. Money is green. Chute looks like it will open. Done deal. Next up.

Everyone is guessing why he used a bail out rig. He also didn’t know when he got the chutes how long it would take to get off the ground, but he knew the more he asked for the longer it would be. You are looking at the situation in hindsight. The most straightforward answer is he found the chutes sufficient and moved on to other issues. Why is that the most straightforward answer? Because based on what we know 50 years later that’s exactly what he did. It requires no conjecture. It’s what happened.

He said it.

I'm not guessing. He wanted to get the show on the road. It's also common sense (oddly applied to skyjacking) that being on the ground is bad and the more things he requests while on the ground the longer he is going to be on the ground. He had the shades pulled because he didn't want to get his head blown off by a sniper, that type of pressure would make one amenable to certain suboptimal compromises as long as it is all sufficient.

He may have used the parachute given him for the same reason he used he money bag given to him...to limit trips on and off the airplane and get in the air as fast as possible. Getting in the air is more important that what type of chute or money bag he received...as long as the chute worked (he checked one, and packing cards) and as long as the money is green and all there. This is another one that doesn't seem like a mystery to me. It's called good enough, he clearly thought both were good enough and that was better than adding time to the ground. Remember, he didn't know how long the refueling would take. He wanted the show on the road.

I have no skydiving experience at all and am hoping you can provide some expertise since clearly you have a lot of experience. Given Cooper's size and the parachute type what amount of weight could he have had strapped to himself before it became to problematic? I'm specifically think of a configuration where he has the briefcase strapped to his stomach/lower chest and the money bag strapped to the briefcase....like a belly bag/big beer belly.

I'm still missing the mystery of the indicator light. Cooper thought the stairs would fully deploy. The stairs did not. He then proceeds to mess with the lever some more and call the cockpit. Eventually he figures out the stairs are in a position that is viable for his escape and everything is good. The stairs never get to the fully locked down position because of the force of air pressure. It seems straight forward to me. It's also a good thing the stairs never locked or the landing in Reno would have been a whole different thing since the aft stairs in the locked down position are designed to be a support for the heavy tail of a 727.

He didn’t jump at PDX, I think you get the point though. What constitutes a “path?” To me south is a clear direction. He didn’t need to specify more just like I wouldn’t need to in the Central California analogy. Just east is good enough. Whatever victor you like. I’m landing in the terrain I intended. Same for Cooper and south. The pilots could see the lights. So could Cooper. And any lights after darkness means it’s go time.

He went A to B and back to A. He only agreed to southerly destinations He jumped at the first metro lights after the darkness. I’ve made up nothing.

It has everything to do with jumping early. In your speculation he changes plans several times. That ultimately determines where and when he jumped. They are completely interdependent. I’m rejecting your theory based on Occam's Razor. My explanation is simpler and totally viable.

My assumption is he had a plan to keep it simple and go A to B and back to A. Jump the first metro lights south of darkness. Your assumption is he bailed on his first plan (east heading west), got on another plane and then changed up his second plan (Seattle to Mexico) when he didn’t have to and then panicked (because he agreed to Reno) and jumped at random. I think mine makes more sense. We don’t have to agree.

You claimed he jumped when he wanted to... aka, he lowered the stairs when he wanted to jump and targeted a spot. This is not my claim. He opened the stairs to secure his only exit. He then waited for the right time. He changed his demand to airstairs open on takeoff. The pilots suggested it. He put on the parachute and money right away. Five minutes after take off Tina sees him still without the money tied to him in a jumpable way. Cooper was not ready to jump immediately after take off. I take that as an indication he didn’t plan to jump immediately after take off. He tried to open the airstairs right away. He failed to get the stairs open as he expected and was delayed in getting them open. Ok. Delayed. But only in opening. Not in jumping. If I had only one way out of a cave, I’m damn sure making sure I open that path the second I can, regardless of if I’m ready to come out or not. Especially if I know I only have about 30 minutes of air in the cave. He had no pre-knowledge of where the plane would be. South. He was very clear. This supports the idea that he wanted to jump ASAP... nothing supports a targeted jump. He wasn’t ready to jump asap. You again use target jump. He isn’t jumping to a point. He is jumping to a region. To a terrain. Some terrain is better than others, he got it right. He jumped the lights of BG. Jumping lights is what others did too. Why,, because it makes no sense for Cooper to make a demand that he knows is impossible and would be rejected.. So, he must have believed the plane could make it to Mexico when he made the demand. He did have aviation and fuelling procedure knowledge,, so it doesn't make sense that he could make such a simple error. He isn’t a 727 expert. He did like Mac, he read up on it and/or picked someone’s brain. The key part is he knew it could make it to Mexico…he chose to allow it to go to Reno. He did not have to make that choose. He told them to pick it up in the air…he could have easily said fly straight to Mexico, I know the plane can make it so no funny stuff. But..he didn’t. Remember, his initial demand was airstairs lowered inflight. It changed when Reno was in play. No. It changes when the pilots suggested to have the stairs down. How does a guy with refuelling knowledge make that range error,, he didn't. They misunderstood his initial demand. Because it’s second hand knowledge. And once he was called out for it he just adjusted to Reno because he doesn’t care that much. Just fly south past Portland. That’s it. It’s all he needs. I’ve given the Central California analogy. From any Bay Area airport I could land in the farmlands. I don’t care what victor they take. Just fly east and it works.

I don’t agree trying to get the stairs open right after take off means he was delayed in jumping. That’s a jump in logic. He has only one way out, securing that pathway is the top priority after take off. That doesn’t mean he wanted to jump instantly. It means he wanted to secure his escape route for when he was ready. Thinking he was ready and wanting to jump five minutes after take off is an assumption. I’ve also thought more about your theory on Cooper wanting to go to Mexico. I think he read or was told the max range which is about Mexico City. Cooper is not a 727 expert. He didn’t adjust for fuel consumption flying dirty, he was way off. But…he knew the plane could make it to the middle of Mexico flying normal. If his goal was truly to jump across the border he can just tell them to forget flying in the 15 degree, flaps down configuration and head to Mexico. Basically, there is a clear way to achieve that goal given his knowledge and capacities. He chose not to insist on Mexico. He chose flying dirty over distance. He knew he was going to jump way before Reno. That was his plan.

I know he was a legit writer. But who signs in crayon? That’s weird.

Definitely wasn’t his first time in a depressurized plane. Tina was terrified of being sucked out and the crew offered to come tie her up, he knew he wouldn’t be. The whole skyjacking is based on being able to open the flying plane and still be capable of maneuvering around inside in order to jump effectively. So yes to experience, and it is a bank robbery at 10k feet and jumping at night so yes to guts too.