DB Cooper

[itllclear 1]

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They may have used 20.9 as an abbreviation. Like "Center" as abbreviation for "Seattle Center". They may have been mentally rushed for some reason at that point.

Actually, that's the way we talk when things are going normally. The objective is to use as few syllables as possible to avoid tying up the frequency. That's the sign of a competent, relaxed pilot. When pilots start getting really wordy, that would be a sign of stress or discomfort.

"Harry, why did you land all the way out there? Nobody else landed out there."

"Your statement answered your question."

[377 20]

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I just had a crazy idea that the "battery" in Cooper's fake bomb might not have been a 1.5v dry cell like Sluggo has put forward, if Cooper had aviation background.

I'm wondering if it's an aviation battery of some kind, that maybe was in use in 1971. I have zero aviation knowledge, so am looking for feedback on whether this is just a screwy idea.


I found this patent that talks about a precedent of fourteen 2v batteries used for 28v auxiliary aircraft power. One of those cells may have been Cooper's battery?

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=7&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=4775826&OS=4775826&RS=4775826
Battery system for auxiliary aircraft power - US Patent 4775826
Prior battery packs for 28 volt auxiliary aircraft power, however, were usually composed of a bank of fourteen lead acid cells of 2 volts each. ...

I've attached a modern picture of a 2v sealed lead-acid cell, which is what got me thinking about this.

Snowman,

28 VDC acft batts are big and heavy as they normally have to be capable of delivering high current to start and engine or an APU. There are small standby emergency power 28 VDC batteries, but even those are relatively large and heavy, about the volume of a quart of water. Lead acid and Nicad are the types you'll find approved for acft use.

No need for Cooper to have 28 VDC batt to mimic a bomb. One or two 6 VDC carbon zinc dry cell lantern batts would do the job.

The reason airplanes us 28 VDC instead of 12 VDC (like cars do) for their primary DC voltage is that for a given power (watts =volts x amps), the higher the voltage, the lower the amps and therefore smaller wire can be used saving LOTS of weight. The reason planes use 400 cycle AC instead of 60 cycle (like house current) is that the iron cores of AC transformers can be much lighter with higher frequencies. In aircraft electrical power design, it is all about saving weight.

Oddly, there were a few WW2 C 47s (DC 3s) that had 12 volt electrical systems (listed as 14 VDC, the charging voltage for a 12 volt battery and what you'd see on the DC buss with the generators running). The vast majority had 28 VDC systems.

Some Canadian built WW 2 fighters had 14 VDC systems which made their 16 mm film gun cameras highly sought after by skydivers in the days before videotape gear was affordable. Mike Swain figured this out early and bought up lots of them. He could fly with a 12 volt battery while his cohorts had to use bigger and heavier 24 volt batts to power their helmet mounted gun cameras.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[Mr.Nuke 0]

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They may have used 20.9 as an abbreviation. Like "Center" as abbreviation for "Seattle Center". They may have been mentally rushed for some reason at that point.

Actually, that's the way we talk when things are going normally. The objective is to use as few syllables as possible to avoid tying up the frequency. That's the sign of a competent, relaxed pilot. When pilots start getting really wordy, that would be a sign of stress or discomfort.

Well put. As both Sluggo and yourself noted the object is to communicate the correct information in as short of time as possible. Frequencies can become crowed places in busy airspace and it is important to keep your messages short and concise.

I'll try and break down a basic conversation establishing contact with a controller a little further for the non aviators.

Seattle Center, Cessna N123B (November-one-two-three-bravo) with you at 10,000.

General aviation uses the plane's registration number (airlines obviously use a designated company call sign and the flight number) as the call sign, proceeded by the make of the plane. On first contact you also give the full tail number, one subsequent communications with the same controller we can usually simplify it assuming their isn't someone else on the same frequency with a similar call sign.

A typical response would be something like this.
Cessna N123B, Seattle Center Good afternoon. Radar contact altimeter 30.03
This lets the pilot know the the controller has them on the radar, and they have been informed that the altimeter setting has changed.

A response could be as simple as
30.03, 123B.
We've given a read back on the altimeter setting to the controller to let them know we have a correct copy. Note we dropped the Cessna and the N, and can keep our communications in the simpler format for the remainder of the time with this controller.

When it comes time to get handed off to the next controller you might hear something like this.

Cessna N123B Contact Seattle Center on 135.8 Good Day
To which a simple response to confirm you have the correct frequency is necessary.
From anything as formal as 120.9 for Cessna N123B to as simple as just twenty point nine if the traffic is light. Of course some combination of the above will work just fine as well. You can drop the one in 120.9 because all VHF civilian navigation frequencies have the one in front.

[snowmman 3]

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Quote

I just had a crazy idea that the "battery" in Cooper's fake bomb might not have been a 1.5v dry cell like Sluggo has put forward, if Cooper had aviation background.

I'm wondering if it's an aviation battery of some kind, that maybe was in use in 1971. I have zero aviation knowledge, so am looking for feedback on whether this is just a screwy idea.


I found this patent that talks about a precedent of fourteen 2v batteries used for 28v auxiliary aircraft power. One of those cells may have been Cooper's battery?

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=7&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=4775826&OS=4775826&RS=4775826
Battery system for auxiliary aircraft power - US Patent 4775826
Prior battery packs for 28 volt auxiliary aircraft power, however, were usually composed of a bank of fourteen lead acid cells of 2 volts each. ...

I've attached a modern picture of a 2v sealed lead-acid cell, which is what got me thinking about this.

Snowman,

28 VDC acft batts are big and heavy as they normally have to be capable of delivering high current to start and engine or an APU. There are small standby emergency power 28 VDC batteries, but even those are relatively large and heavy, about the volume of a quart of water. Lead acid and Nicad are the types you'll find approved for acft use.

No need for Cooper to have 28 VDC batt to mimic a bomb. One or two 6 VDC carbon zinc dry cell lantern batts would do the job.

The reason airplanes us 28 VDC instead of 12 VDC (like cars do) for their primary DC voltage is that for a given power (watts =volts x amps), the higher the voltage, the lower the amps and therefore smaller wire can be used saving LOTS of weight. The reason planes use 400 cycle AC instead of 60 cycle (like house current) is that the iron cores of AC transformers can be much lighter with higher frequencies. In aircraft electrical power design, it is all about saving weight.

Oddly, there were a few WW2 C 47s (DC 3s) that had 12 volt electrical systems (listed as 14 VDC, the charging voltage for a 12 volt battery and what you'd see on the DC buss with the generators running). The vast majority had 28 VDC systems.

Some Canadian built WW 2 fighters had 14 VDC systems which made their 16 mm film gun cameras highly sought after by skydivers in the days before videotape gear was affordable. Mike Swain figured this out early and bought up lots of them. He could fly with a 12 volt battery while his cohorts had to use bigger and heavier 24 volt batts to power their helmet mounted gun cameras.

377

well you confused me even more 377.
Cooper obviously didn't have one or two 6 VDC dry cells. If you think a 6v dry cell matches Tina's description, then post a pic. And I don't know why you think 6v or 12v is more useful for a bomb detonation voltage. Aren't we agreeing the battery was for a fake bomb, so voltage doesn't matter? Illusion mattered more?

In any case, I'll take it on belief that you're implying 2v cells were not commonly used on aircraft, and that if multiple cells were used, they were containerized in some way so that they wouldn't be separable.

And in terms of "big and heavy" ...cylindrical 2v sealed lead acid batteries exist. See my pic.

So I'll leave it that the battery in Cooper's bomb was probably a 1.5V #6 dry cell. (from Tina's description)

[377 20]

Sorry Snowman, I must have missed Tina's battery description. Anyway, I am very familiar with the sealed lead acid 2 V cells often branded Cyclon. They are made by Gates (and others) and find common use as backup batteries in AC powered lighted emergency exit signs and also in burglar alarms. I have never seen them in any aircraft systems. They usually come in 6 V or 12 V packs comprised of 3 or 6 cells with heat shrink white tubing holding the cells together.

I wonder what became of Cooper's "bomb"? My guess is that he tossed it and its remains are somewhere below the flight path. Maybe it will be found someday and give us some clues.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[Guru312 0]

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A response could be as simple as
30.03, 123B.

Often, when no confusion will be created, only the last two numbers or letters are given without any other read-back.

Such as when a smart-assed jump pilot was flying Cessna 182 N69BS, the response was shortened to: BS.

I got lots of laughs from controllers responding with only those letters... with a particularly voice inflection when I wanted to convey dissatisfaction with a routing.

Guru312

I am not DB Cooper

[Albert18 0]

But where do pilots learn a speech pattern that is lifeless, overly truncated, a bit slurred, and void of any enunciation?

[Sluggo_Monster 0]

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But where do pilots learn a speech pattern that is lifeless, overly truncated, a bit slurred, and void of any enunciation?

I don't know if that was a serious question or not, but it did remind me of my “Instruction Period”.

I learned to fly in Southern California, at an intermediate-sized airport (for Southern California, that is). My southern drawl and loquacious speech pattern probably drove the controllers crazy as I tied up the freq with my requests and reports.

One day my instructor (who struggled financially) presented me with a cheap Radio-Shack portable Aircraft Frequency Monitor. He said, “Go sit in the parking lot for two hours every day and listen to the radio. Don’t schedule another lesson until you sound just like the commercial pilots and controllers”. He also said, “Say it in your mind first, then key the mike”.

I did!

I found out later, each controller (they only ran a day shift) had chipped-in $2 for my monitor. God bless them!

For you Sou. Cal pilots out there it was CRQ (Mc Clellan-Palomar Airport
Carlsbad, California, USA). It’s a great place to fly (or to learn to fly).

Sluggo

Web Page
Blog
NORJAK Forum

[snowmman 3]

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But where do pilots learn a speech pattern that is lifeless, overly truncated, a bit slurred, and void of any enunciation?

bars?

[Mr.Nuke 0]

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Quote

A response could be as simple as
30.03, 123B.

Often, when no confusion will be created, only the last two numbers or letters are given without any other read-back.

Such as when a smart-assed jump pilot was flying Cessna 182 N69BS, the response was shortened to: BS.

Thanks Guru that was meant to be my shortest response, but I finally got around to posting at almost 2:00 a.m. when I wasn't fully thinking. If there is really minimal traffic on the frequency I've heard plenty get away with either reading back the altimeter setting like 30.03 or the frequency twenty point nine and being doing with it.

[snowmman 3]

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I wonder what became of Cooper's "bomb"? My guess is that he tossed it and its remains are somewhere below the flight path. Maybe it will be found someday and give us some clues.
377

I was thinking about decomposition of the briefcase and it's predicted contents. We've been told it was a "cheap" briefcase. If I remember right, plastic briefcases were starting to be introduced in the early '70s (I'm thinking about what my dad used over the years). I'm sure there were other manufacture methods (compressed cardboard?), but plastic probably provides the upper limit for decomposition in the exposed NW environment.

Here's a case report from 1968 mentioning a plastic briefcase. I wonder if a cheap briefcase would have exploded/shattered on ground impact?

New York Miscellaneous Reports - PEOPLE v. SULLIVAN, 57 Misc.2d 208...
Loislaw - May 23, 1968
It is undisputed that in the process of making this "inventory", the officer found a closed black plastic briefcase located on the floor of the car and, ...

some other mentions of plastic briefcases from that era..hey they're funny, I guess they're Lost&Found Ads.....imagine if Cooper put a "LOST" ad for his briefcase in the newspaper afterwards! These are real from Google News.

Daily Review, The (Newspaper) - January 30, 1969, Hayward, California
LOST: BLUE plastic briefcase, vicinity Fairway Park. Containing dark glasses and business papers. Call 471-5404. Reward.

Independent (Newspaper) - January 20, 1971, Long Beach, California
1813 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa (714) 642-0450 Licensed tan plastic briefcase. Vic 371 Livingston. Healthy Reward, no Questions. 438-5461.

[snowmman 3]

I remember way back when I first landed here at DZ.com, I was reading about guru312's "I am not db cooper" story, and he's also got this there:

http://www.aicommand.com/index.html

I thought it was so weird sounding. What the heck was that about, guru312?

[snowmman 3]

This is another "out there" theory.

Ok, say you're Cooper. You do the caper, and then you're found out pretty quickly. But you tell the FBI "Hey, I'm a white hat, I was doing a penetration test, so you can see the holes in the way you handle these things"

Later on, with the McCoy hijacking, radio transmitters were hidden in the chutes for easy location...although McCoy tossed them and used his own, the planes were able to locate the chutes on the ground. You can see how the FBI really wasn't ready for Cooper, but were more ready during '72.

The Cooper Vane was eventually installed on all 727s.

I was thinking that Cooper might have been able to convince authorities of this "white hat" defense.

I'm using terminology that people familar with hackers should relate to, in today's times.

[BigSky 2]

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Are sport chutes not reliable?

Let's just say that a parachute dedicated to emergency use (a pilot rig) might be considered more reliable than a sport main.

The emergency rig has to be packed by a licensed FAA rigger, while a sport main may be packed by the person making the jump.

If Cooper had experience walking around the back of a plane dropping objects, he would have been wearing a pilot emergency rig, not a sport rig. The sport rig would have modifications unfamiliar to a load master.

It makes sense to stick with something familiar.

Sounds like you have background in this, thanks for jumping in. Can anyone confirm that load masters wear PER's when working. Of coures you have go back to the 50's, what did they wear in the 50's?

Snowmman? the search king, can you get this.

This goes to the theory then that Cooper chose the best chute base on Cooper's experience, but not the best gear available. This then proves, or adds another piece to the puzzle, that Cooper was not an experienced skydiver.

Not necessarily, and this was my point when I brought this up the first time. There are just too many variables to rule him in or out as a skydiver based on the rig he took.

What if he was an active skydiver in his past but had taken a break? what if he just wanted a round because he thought he might land in a tree.

I know many older jumpers who don’t jump with an AAD. Most of us younger jumpers are not comfortable with this. Maybe all he was comfortable with was a round because that’s all he ever jumped so he picked the rig he was most comfortable with.

Sorry for the very late replies but I take a few days off and come back to page after page of reading to do.

“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

[Sluggo_Monster 0]

Ckret,

I need some clarification.

There are two sketches attached. The first is what I believe to be the initial sketch done after interviewing Mucklow (or some other witness). It shows a rather mild mannered (by my opinion) younger man (certainly younger than 45 to 50 years old).

The second sketch shows a somewhat older man with a very different demeanor. It is my belief that these two sketches were released to the public shortly after the incident. The former was released within days and the later was still being published up to about two years after.

Now, these two sketches would certainly have me looking for two different people. They aren’t even close to each other.

What can you tell me (us) about the history of these two sketches? Please start by explaining the catalog numbers.

[1] Where did they come from?

[2] How did they evolve into the sketch that we are all so familiar with?

[3] Plus, is there anything else you can tell us about how sketches are developed (in general)?

[4] Are there any other sketches in your little “box of toys” that I (we) might be interested in seeing

Thanks,

Sluggo

Edit: To add sketches with sunglasses.

Web Page
Blog
NORJAK Forum

[snowmman 3]

somewhat weirdly connected, I tracked down the source of The Bald Man Theory...evidently on 4/29/72 newspapers reported the FBI had a theory Cooper was bald with a wig? Maybe this was a result of McCoy hijack, which was 4/7/72..captured 4/9/72

I mention this as part of the mythology about just what the "excellent description" really was or wasn't.

Apr 29, 1972 - The FBI has concluded that "DB Cooper," the ransom hijacker of an airliner last November, is bald headed, according to the Bremerton Sun.
From CLUE TO DB COOPER---'BALD,' PAPER SAYS - Los Angeles Times

Apr 29, 1972 - .. search for Cooper, who escaped last Thanksgiving eve from a low flying Northwest Airlines 727 along with two parachutes and 'according to the Bremerton Sun. The newspaper said it learned from a reliable source the FBI is looking for a bald headed "DB but it ...
From San Mateo Times (Newspaper) - April 29, 1972,


Apr 29, 1972 - FBI agents have been showing residents here a photograph taken in front of a local wig shop and indications are that the suspect could be bald and be wearing a black wig. These are the most recent conclusions of the' FBI in its search for Cooper, who escaped last Thanksgiving eve from a low ...
From San Mateo Times (Newspaper) - April 29, 1972,

[Mr.Nuke 0]

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I would feel better about this interpretation if he had said “Radio” instead of “Center”. The ARTTC monitors many frequencies, but broadcast on one at a time, so, sometimes you need to tell them what frequency you are on.

I welcome a better explanation.

Sluggo

Sluggo, I know you are busy with the family, but if you get a chance... Do you have a higher resolution copy of the sectional with the flight path on it? I'm guessing you posted the highest resolution Crket sent you. I ask because I may have found what 120.9 is (in a more detailed sense). 120.9 is Portland-Troutdale's (KTTD) tower/CTAF overnight. I realize frequencies can change over the years. However, if you look at the 1971 sectional, the tower frequency is clear 120.something. The angle at the top of the number isn't right for a 5, the shape isn't quite right for a 6, but it looks just right for a 9 (plus their are two clearer 9's right next to the number in question). The final kicker is the 254.3. Though it has been removed from the current sectional it is still in the airport data page at airnav.
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KTTD

[snowmman 3]

Every time I find an H. quote vehemently stating who Cooper wasn't, I say to myself..."Okay that's who Cooper was"
(edit)
NOW WHY THE HECK DID H. SAY 48 HERE?
I mean that's an exact age. It's like he's telling us
birth year = 1923?

(edit) updated url to Seattle Times primary source

article here with some H. quotes
The Seattle Times, Nov. 17, 1996
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19961117&slug=2360262

Himmelsbach says Cooper may have been ex-military, but more likely was an ex-con, a loner who burned friends and family and was desperate enough to ignore the long odds.

"When a guy like that drops out of sight the people around him are glad and they don't think much about it, maybe figuring he's in jail again," Himmelsbach says. "You certainly don't get a 48-year-old man who has lived a normal life suddenly doing what this guy did."

He was, Himmelsbach says, "a dirty, rotten crook."

[skyjack71 0]

BUR LV 184-80
I have never seen that one, but being an artist myself it seems this may have been a first draft to get something out as fsst as possible...it has been enlarged.


SE 148 - 81
This would be a version when he was attempting to get the frown right - he had lots of problems getting the mouth to satisfy all of the witnesses

SE 184- 84
Would be another attempt to do the same thing.

I do not know if Pete Rose was the artists on all of the composites, but I know he did several. Doug Pasternack interviewed him in 2000 - spent around 2 hrs with him.

No one knows why the FBI has chose to use the old Bing Crosby Look- alike over the yrs. Maybe just because it was the 1st composite

Pete Rose had told Pasternack that he was having a problem getting a cetain feature on paper - I identified that feature and (action ) without being told what it was.

I thought I had seen all of the composites until these three.

The Last two are definitely Pete Rose Composites - I recognize his handy work BUT I WANT TO KNOW WHY THEY WERE NEVER MADE PUBLIC?

As most of you know the Pete Rose Composites that were used to make a comparison to Ted Mayfield - They had not been made available to the public until the other thread acquired them.

This makes one wonder WHY these composites were never disclosed until we started the posting on DZ with the first Cooper thread.

A lot of it has been taking someone elses word. But these three seem to be official - but what is the SE. I have not seen that on a composite of Cooper.

WHERE is SAFECRACK - he is the composite guru?

The descriptions were basically given from seeing Cooper in a sitting position - no profile was done or everyone would see why the artist drew them the way he did. If you will note the shading at the sides of the forehead you will see that the artist was trying to depict the slant of the forehead.

Also in the one that I have they show a line down the side of the face which is showing the cheek bones status. The ones you have show the characterists better than the the ones the FBI has persisted in using.

What I like is that mouth - need I say more.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[377 20]

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This is another "out there" theory.

Ok, say you're Cooper. You do the caper, and then you're found out pretty quickly. But you tell the FBI "Hey, I'm a white hat, I was doing a penetration test, so you can see the holes in the way you handle these things"

Later on, with the McCoy hijacking, radio transmitters were hidden in the chutes for easy location...although McCoy tossed them and used his own, the planes were able to locate the chutes on the ground. You can see how the FBI really wasn't ready for Cooper, but were more ready during '72.

The Cooper Vane was eventually installed on all 727s.

I was thinking that Cooper might have been able to convince authorities of this "white hat" defense.

I'm using terminology that people familar with hackers should relate to, in today's times.

The "white hat" defense rarely works in real life. Many times when a celeb is busted for kiddie porn or soliciting prostitution they claim they were doing research for a book, movie, etc. Remember when Pete Townsend of the Who was busted for child porn?

"From the very beginning," Townshend said in a statement, "I acknowledged that I did access this site and that I had given the police full access to my computers. As I made clear at the outset, I accessed the site because of my concerns at the shocking material available on the Internet to children as well as adults, and as part of my research toward the campaign I had been putting together since 1995 to counter damage done by all kinds of pornography on the Internet, but especially any involving child abuse."

Pete was cleared because the forensic experts couldn't prove that he downloaded anything. As a parent, aren't you grateful Pete was on the front lines of the war on child porn? I mean a celebrity like him taking the time and caring enough about kids to do his "research"... I think he should be considered for Knighthood.

Can you see the Asst. US Attorney in Seattle giving Cooper a free pass for showing holes in airline security? I don't know who would be laughing harder, the prosecutor, the FBI agents, or his defense attorney.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[snowmman 3]

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Can you see the Asst. US Attorney in Seattle giving Cooper a free pass for showing holes in airline security? I don't know who would be laughing harder, the prosecutor, the FBI agents, or his defense attorney.

377

yeah, you're right. I'm thinking free pass at an earlier level, so it doesn't involve so many people. Basically I"m wrestling with the "never got caught" reality.

[snowmman 3]

Someone mentioned SafecrackingPLF
if he was here, he'd be spinning the Lookalike meter.

So I tried to stand in for him. I was surprised how many people said Gossett was a good match for the composite sketch. It's easy to find photos from the appropriate time period, that are better matches than Gossett. Attached is result of Lookalike meter.

[1969912 0]

BUR LV 184-80

SE 148 - 81

SE 184- 84

Just a guess, but it seems likely that "BUR LV" means Las Vegas FBI office. "SE" would be Seattle. Perhaps the initial sketches were done locally in Seattle and Nevada (Las Vegas might have been the main FBI office for Nevada even though the plane landed in Reno) based on input from released crew/passengers at each location.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[snowmman 3]

This is in the myth or fact bucket.

The earliest newspaper reference to Himmelsbach supposedly trailing 305 in a helicopter, that I can find, is in 1996.

More recent article says he followed an airliner over the route the next night in an army helicopter, as part of the search? Maybe that's the truth and got turned into him following during the hijack? It makes more sense, because I don't see how he and Mayfield had a phone conversation if H. was in a helicopter that night?

Other myths? from that night are that the trailing C-130 had parachutists in it, and that the two jets were one fighter, one trainer jet. (reported early after the hijack)

DB COOPER LEGEND STILL UP IN AIR 25 YEARS AFTER LEAP, HIJACKER...
Rocky Mountain News - NewsBank - Nov 24, 1996
There was also an Air National Guard helicopter carrying FBI agent Ralph Himmelsbach, frantically trying to keep up with the 727. ...

DB Cooper's fate unknown; legend thrives Hijacker parachuted from...
Kansas City Star - NewsBank - Dec 2, 1996
There was also an Air National Guard helicopter, which carried FBI agent Ralph Himmelsbach and tried to keep up with the 727. The chopper was too slow. ...

One giant leap into infamy 25 years ago, a hijacker known as DB...
Fort Worth Star-Telegram - NewsBank - Nov 28, 1996
There was also an Air National Guard helicopter, carrying FBI agent Ralph Himmelsbach and frantically trying to keep up with the 727. ...

DB Cooper expert doubts latest claims.
The Columbian - AccessMyLibrary.com - Oct 27, 2007
Oct. 27--Ralph Himmelsbach has heard every DB Cooper story there is to be ... and the next night followed an airliner over the route in an army helicopter. ...

[snowmman 3]

The writer apparently interviewed H. for this article


D.B. Cooper expert doubts latest claims.

Source: Columbian (Vancouver, WA)
Don Hamilton
Publication Date: 27-OCT-07

Himmelsbach's life has been intertwined with the hijacking, right from the night it took place. He listened to the radio chatter between the pilot and the tower as they made their plans.