Robert99

G_Jones writes: So you are suggesting that the information could have been removed for the specific purpose of hiding the location of the plane during that time? Robert99 replies: No, I am not suggesting. I'm stating that in plain language. G_Jones writes: Possibly, as soon as Tina was back in cockpit they put on oxygen masks and climbed up to 15,000? Robert99 replies: Cooper had told the flight crew to fly at 10,000 feet and not to go higher. If they had gone above 10,000 feet the cabin oxygen masks would have dropped down at some point and Cooper would have known what was happening. In northern California, the airliner did climb to 11,000 feet in order to clear some mountains between it and Reno but that was apparently not high enough to cause the oxygen masks to deploy. G_Jones writes: The pilots must have been very angry and been coming up with ideas of how to get at Cooper or get him off the plane ASAP, especially if they thought he might detonate the bomb anyway. Robert99 replies: Basically, Cooper held all the cards as long as he was on the plane. About the best thing for the crew to do was play along with him and not to get him stressed out. However, it should also be noted that while on the ground in Seattle, the crew suggested that they climb above the existing overcast and then fly over the Pacific until Cooper jumped or blew the plane up. However, NWA ruled that out.

Johnny Ringo, Are you still operating that bar in Tombstone?

Safe writes: I believe you can still figure out the case even without a plane location or time of jump. It's far easier if you have these, but the discovery of the money itself is enough to lead you to a reasonable conclusion... unless you start doubting all the inferences from that also. I'm so confident that this case is totally screwed that I'll bet against any suspect you can come up with and I'll bet against them blind. Safe, You have spoken wisely. In my not-very-humble opinion, the location of the money find is the only viable clue that can be used to find anything that may remain of Cooper, the parachutes, the money, and anything else he had with him. Anyone who takes you up on that bet is going to lose. At this point, only St. Peter knows for sure who Cooper was. St. Peter probably met him about one minute after Cooper departed those airliner stairs.

Hmm that is interesting. Any theories as to what is missing? I would think the pilots would want to go check for an activated bomb as soon as they thought he was gone. This is not "theory" but everything that would help pin point the airliner's position at the time of the pressure bump, which is the supposed time of the jump, is missing. The exact flight path cannot be determined from the information in the Seattle ATC radio transcripts. In addition, at least the times, and probably the aircraft locations, shown on the so-called FBI maps of the flight south from Seattle are not believeable. There are rumors that, despite their denial, the flight crew did check the cabin after the pressure bump.

Pek771, Thanks for the compliment. From the information that is "public", and as Georger has stated earlier today some has been redacted, it is my understanding that the sled drop tests were used to support the idea that the "pressure bump" was the time of the actual jump. While there is no mention of a pressure bump in the Seattle ATC radio transcripts, the flight crew may have passed some such information to NWA's performance group in Minneapolis through the ARINC radio system. Until the airliner was some distance south of Portland, it could communicate directly with the NWA group in Minneapolis by VHF radio patched directly into the commercial telephone system. And I understand the NWA office in Seattle and the FBI were also patched into those communications. At least some of those communications with NWA Minneapolis were transmitted to Seattle and elsewhere by the NWA teletype system. And the "FBI Notes" include information from those communications, especially the teletype printouts. But these communications have obviously been redacted also. While in range for direct ARINC communications, the time hacks on the teletype printouts are probably accurate to within two minutes of the actual transmission. As the airliner got further south of Portland, it could not maintain direct contact with Minneapolis through the ARINC system, due to its relatively low altitude, and those communications were then relayed through higher flying airliners that were still able to directly communicate with the ARINC system. In this case, the time delays between the actual transmission from the airliner until the message appeared in the teletype printouts could easily have been 5 or 10 minutes. In taking off from Seattle, the airliner was cleared for takeoff on the ground control frequency and told to contact Seattle Center on an enroute controller frequency. Consequently, the airliner bypassed both the tower and the departure control controllers on the takeoff. That is the main reason why there is no exact takeoff time available in the transcripts. After takeoff and upon switching to the Seattle enroute controller, there was initial confusion as to the airliner's location. The airliner was about 20 miles south of the Seattle airport before this got cleared up. After that, there is nothing in the Seattle transcripts to pin point the location of the aircraft until it is handed off to the Oakland Center controller near the Fort Jones VORTAC in northern California. In the Oakland Center transcripts, both the radio communications between the airliner and the controllers plus the phone talk between the controllers are included. There is no doubt at all about where the airliner is and what the flight crew and controllers are doing. The Oakland Center's radio transcripts make sense and the Seattle Center's transcripts do not. So to repeat, the "public" version of the Seattle Center's radio transcripts do not contain the "raw" data that pin points the airliner's position or the time when the "pressure bump" occured.

You know I'm just a simple country girl so somebody please help me out here. What am I missing? They've known about this fellow for a year. If this article is legit, they've checked out the DNA - (which many suspect is a futile gesture from the get go - but that's another topic), but they're still waiting to find another object with fingerprints??? Does this mean that fingerprints from military service are not readily available from the military??... or maybe the FBI has to fill out an FOIA request to get em from the Navy. Now that would be govment bureaucrazy at its finest. Seriously, though ...is all this sounding kinda strange to anyone besides me? I believe the FBI is the repository for all military finger prints. However, the 1970 era prints may not have been digitized and would have to be checked manually.

I looked through the transcripts at Sluggo's site but never noticed anything redacted. Did I miss something? This just in: No DNA Match To Purported D.B. Cooper Hijacking Suspect http://news.opb.org/article/niece_no_dna_match_to_purported_d.b._cooper_hijacking_suspect/ Take another look at the Seattle Air Route Traffic Control's transcript for the very time the hijacker is supposed to have jumped (about 8:11 to 8:13 PM) and you should notice about an 18 minute time gap. If that transcript is to be believed, the airliner crew didn't radio a single word about the supposed jump. In addition, about the only information on that specific tape after they got the airliner level at 10,000 feet was the airliner crew being passed altimeter settings, switches between sector controller frequencies, and being told to ident (push the ident button on their transponder). If you want to see what air traffic control communications are actually like, take a look at the transcript for the Oakland Center commuications with the airliner. The Oakland Center also included the phone talk between the individual controllers. To make a long story short, the Seattle ATC transcripts have been sanitized.

Dan Cooper Comics - What is a famous publication, previously unknown in the Western Hemisphere, that has generated more profits for paper manufacturers than its entire initial editions combined? DZ.com (specifically the DB Cooper thread) - What is %*&^@#%=$?

Some sources also state that the back parachute left behind was a "sports" parachute. Some people state that it was a ParaCommander backpack. Has anyone on this thread ever seen a 1970 era "sports" parachute or a ParaCommander backpack that didn't have D-rings for a belly reserve?

I guess I'll have to go for $1200: Attics - What are inaccessible spaces above the living area in some houses that are needed to help explain improbable theories?

The idea that Duane Weber's Navy serial number (if he was actually in the Navy) and/or his Army serial number can be rearranged to represent some kind of meaningful "code" is an imaginative piece of nonsense.

One of the other stewardesses on the flight, Florence Schaffner, and co-pilot Bill Rataczak, have said there were legitimate fears that Cooper might set the bomb to explode remotely after he jumped - to rid himself of the main witnesses. Fortunately, this was not the case. While the airliner was on the ground in Seattle, the flight crew was informed that the Chief FAA Psychiatrist in Washington, DC predicted that the hijacker would probably take a prisoner with him (hence the four parachutes) and blow up the airliner as he/they jumped. This information can be found in the radio transcripts.

ExBlue, Thanks. Robert Nicholson

Alex, I'll take the "codes" for the maximum amount allowable: QRN : Are the atmospherics strong? - . ., - . . ., - . - . : What are DB Cooper's initials? 7500 : What is the aircraft transponder hijack code? Alex, I'll next take "Hot Nuns" for the maximum amount allowable: Flight 305 FA - Who is Tina? City name in Oregon - What is Sister's? Fred MacMurray's Spouse(s) - Who are Lillian Lamont and June Haver? Farflung Fantasy - Who is Vicki? Alex, I will now retire from the game since I have enough winnings to get a hamburger down at McDonald's.

Tacomaman, You have been pushing LD Cooper as the hi-jacker since your first post on this thread. You are also criticizing people who are pushing other non-viable Cooper candidates. And LD Cooper is not a viable suspect either. So you are doing the same thing as what you are criticizing. If you have any valid information on LD Cooper to support your allegations, this thread would be a good place to mention it. But you don't.

Note that the article in question is from 2008 and that chute has now been ruled out as being Cooper's.

There is a picture of L. D. Cooper on at this very minute.

If you are looking for "trust" you are on the wrong thread. How about some "facts" from you. Where did L. D. Cooper, or whatever his name was, get his very specific information on the 727? Are you working on the book with the niece?

I believe that his niece said that he was NOT a paratrooper.

It's not how long you have been on this thread, it what you say in your posts that count as the fresh meat. So far Mr. Green, you seem to be quite acceptable. Enjoy.

Jo & Blevins, Here (Tacomaman) is some fresh meat for you.

Ms. Weber, Regardless of how you spell the words, the meaning is clear that Cooper died in the jump. Jerry is right! What does a ticket stub from SeaTac have to do with Cooper? Absolutely nothing! The only ticket that Cooper is known to have purchased was at the Portland International Airport and for the flight that he hi-jacked. Also, I happen to have personal knowledge that TV is available in the South (yes, even Florida) and if you know what a TV set is, and how to turn it on, then you should be able to get news about the latest suspect from the over-the-air TV networks as well as cable TV networks. Otherwise, try a radio. In addition, you need to line up an emergency appointment with a mental health clinic so that when Cooper is finally identified you won't have to go through the same thing that you have been through since last Saturday night. Plan ahead! Robert Nicholson

Jo, I hate to be the one who has to tell you this, but you probably have more questions than the FBI has answers to, ever will have answers to, or even wants to have answers to. The FBI only has about 100,000 employees and they can't all work on trying to figure out who Duane was and/or what he did or didn't do. And I doubt if you would believe the FBI in any event. We must learn how to distinguish between "facts" and "wishful thinking". Finally, there is an old saying something like: "The first person a con man cons is himself." To that can be added the following: "The second person a con man cons is his wife." Robert Nicholson

ergo: he got away. It sure looks that way.

A story on MSNBC's web page this evening quotes Agent Gutt as stating that Christiansen has been ruled out as a Cooper suspect, that the tip on the new suspect originated over a year ago, that the new suspect has been dead for 10 years and that he had ties to the Pacific Northwest. Robert Nicholson