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DB Cooper

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Heard Marty Andrade's interview,,, 

https://www.spreaker.com/user/afterhoursam/after-hours-am-christopher-balzano-haunt

 

RE: Cooper wanting to go to Mex...

Marty disagreed with my theory that Cooper wanted to go to Mexico... but mischaracterized the argument. He correctly stated the desire to jump ASAP but all that occurred after the negotiations for Reno.

 

My argument is that Cooper initially wanted to jump South of the US border but when Reno was in play he wanted to jump ASAP..

 

Cooper initially demanded to go to Mex and no landing in the US for any reason. Why would he make this demand if he knew it would be rejected? He wouldn't.. Cooper believed the plane could make it to Mexico to refuel. Mazatlan was mentioned in docs as a potential fuel stop.

Cooper initially demanded that the airstairs be lowered in flight. He changed that during negotiations with the crew, it isn't clear who instigated it but the crew was trying to get Tina off the plane. Why change his demand? 

Cooper was not dressed for the PNW climate.

Cooper asked for "US" and "American" currency.

Cooper was described as Latin/Mexican appearance and features.

 

When the Reno landing came into play, Cooper wanted out ASAP.

Cooper gave no heading, his LZ was not planned. It was ad hoc. He did not jump where he had initially planned to.

 

There is no evidence Mexico was a ruse. 

 

Everybody still thinks Cooper's initial demand was airstairs down on takeoff, this is 100% false. A game changer. Why change the demand once Reno was in play.. because he didn't want to be on the plane when it landed as that would be where the authorities would be set up. The circumstances changed and Cooper adapted. 

 

If Cooper jumped where he initially planned (or close) then why did he change his demand when Reno was in play...  it doesn't make sense.

 

 

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Andrade1812 said:

I disagree that I mischarecterized your argument, I just mentioned it as an alternative. It would probably take an entire hour long podcast just to go through your entire theory.

 

Your statement on the show was correct, the evidence you gave applied after the crew negotiation, Reno was in play and Cooper changed his demand. It is not incompatible with my argument... you didn't actually make an argument against it but your statement suggested to the host Cooper's actions negated my argument. It didn't. It is compatible.

So, everyone listening is left with the impression you refuted my argument with the evidence you gave, it didn't. That is what I mean by mischaracterization.

 

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5 hours ago, Andrade1812 said:

I'm sure Joel would love to have you on the show to discuss your theories in depth.

 

I just wanted to clarify that your statements were correct but not incompatible with my Mex theory. The false impression from the show was that you refuted it by stating Cooper's actions.

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2 hours ago, RobertMBlevins said:

The REAL question is WHY Cooper requested to go to Mexico without any stops in the first place, when it was obvious that Cooper not only knew the workings of a passenger jet fairly well, but was at least familiar with the Puget Sound area from above. He knew the driving time between McChord AFB and SeaTac, for example. That is something only a local would know, in my opinion. And not just a local to Washington state, but someone local to the South King County/North Pierce County area. 

You have to look at his ORIGINAL demand, which on the surface makes no sense. My theory is that Cooper just tossed Mexico out there as a destination just like you would toss a snack to your dog. He knew it couldn't be done, but he didn't care. If he's planning to jump from the aircraft, he doesn't WANT the FBI or any local LEO to KNOW where he's going to jump. When they tell him they can't make Mexico without some refueling, he simply adapts to that, but he's just playing them because he has no intention of staying aboard long anyway, no matter what. 

The only reason he demanded Mex nonstop in US was because he thought it was possible..  No way he makes a demand that he knows is impossible and would be 100% rejected by the pilots.

If he just wanted the plane heading South he didn't have to demand nonstop in US.. he could have picked many southern US cities.

The tell is that he changed his demand once landing in Reno was in play. He adapted and wanted out ASAP.. 

 

Tina claimed the hijacker put on the backpack after the passengers left but before the other stews left...

Flo stated she heard Mexico, San Francisco and Phoenix discussed.. then the hijacker put on the backpack..

It is fuzzy but seems to indicate Cooper put on the back pack during the destination negotiations with the crew. Reno wasn't confirmed yet but a landing in the US was.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, RobertMBlevins said:

There IS no Mex theory. Cooper never had the slightest intention of going to Mexico. The Federales would have picked him up in a quick, fast, New York hurry...probably kept the money for themselves, beat the shit out of him just for putting them to the trouble, and then shipped his butt back to the good old USA. It was a ruse to try and ensure no one would know where he jumped. To give the cops a heads-up on where you REALLY wanted to go would be the supreme definition of foolishness. 

It would have been the same thing in Mexico anyway. Cooper jumps, indicator light flashes OFF for the airstairs for a moment and then goes back on permanently. Bingo. Now they know where you departed the aircraft. Only now, instead of some remote woods in the Pac NW, you come down in a place where everybody and his brother are going to be seeking not only YOUR ass...but all that money you are packing. He wouldn't have gotten very far before being picked up, or possibly even killed. 

And if he REALLY wanted to go to Mexico all along, why didn't he just take the refueling stops and do that? He didn't even wait to cross into Oregon. B)

There is a MEX theory, mine... and the FBI considered a Mexican connection.

There is no evidence for a ruse that is just conjecture.

Cooper was Latin/Mexican.. the elephant in the room everybody conveniently ignores..

 

He demanded NO US stops for a reason.., he didn't want to be on the plane when it landed. Being on the plane for a landing with the money and no passengers is a big risk. 

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41 minutes ago, RobertMBlevins said:

Robert says: Okay. 

Robert says: Sure there is. Cooper made at least two comments that indicate he was either very familiar with the south Puget Sound area, or was FROM that area. And what would motivate Cooper to tell the FBI and the crew the REAL place he was going? Or even WANTED to go? That would be foolish. He was probably trying to spread out the search area the length of the USA. Smart move. 

Robert says: The description says an olive appearance. The FBI wanted poster says he's a white guy. Maybe he was a white guy with a good tan. No discernible accent, possibly from the Midwest. That's what it says. None of the witnesses have ever claimed they thought Cooper was of Spanish/Mexican/Hispanic origin or whatever you choose to call it.  And if your guy Hahneman was actually Cooper, then why would he begin his hijacking so damn far from where he actually wanted to go? Starting in Portland, going NORTH to Seattle...and then SOUTH? Doesn't make sense. Cooper was definitely from either the western provinces of Canada, (less likely) or from the Puget Sound area. (VERY likely) 

Robert says: Agreed. But then he never had any intention of remaining on board long anyway. He didn't bail north of Oregon because he was so much afraid of the landing in Reno. He did it because the closer to Seattle he jumps, the shorter distance it is to home. I understand you believe Hahneman was your guy for Cooper. And I sympathize with that. But Hahneman was from Honduras originally and settled on the east coast. Why in the heck would he travel clear across the USA to a place like Podunk Portland Airport...hijack a plane in the wrong direction...and then tell people he wanted to go to Mexico? As far as you know, he'd never even BEEN to the Pacific Northwest. Yet when he gets there, he knows the locations of McChord AFB in relationship to SeaTac Airport, and is able to recognize Tacoma from the air? Have you ever considered that Hahneman simply got the idea to do the hijacking he did back on the east coast after reading what Cooper did? Just like the other copycats?

You also seem to dismiss the idea easily that Hahneman...after he was caught in a high-profile hijacking...was never investigated for the unsolved Cooper case. This would be an easy matter for the FBI to either write him off because somehow they got information from Hahneman during his arrest interviews that immediately dismissed him as a suspect. It is likely they even showed his picture to the witnesses. They had him custody for years. More than a decade in fact.  If he was Cooper, they would have found out pretty damn quickly you know. They sure thought Richard McCoy was Cooper for a while, and they investigated the hell out of that one you can be sure. Even a book about it. Yet you say Hahneman was simply ignored by the FBI. This does not seem possible, unless they knew something about him that you and I don't know. And whatever they found out about him didn't link him to the Cooper case. You have to remember it was only seven months between Cooper in Portland, and Hahneman hijacking that other plane from the east coast down to Honduras. One of the first things that the FBI would have considered, once Hahneman turned himself in was..."Is he Cooper as well?" 

Here is probably what happened after Hahneman's arrest:  They checked his background, interviewed everyone he ever knew, and figured out pretty quick he wasn't Cooper. If you could FOIA the full reports on Hahneman after he was caught....then you would know why none of that got into the Cooper records. Because they wrote him off based on what the FBI discovered after he was caught. McCoy pulled his stunt off in April 1972, and Hahneman in June. Both of them probably got the idea from Cooper's crime the previous November. But it's hard to beat The Master. 

This is why after all those records that were released by the FBI are scanned, probed, mulled over, examined, and digested...there is not a single mention or memo about Hahneman. Because the FBI figured out really fast he wasn't Cooper. He wasn't even worth a single memo. 

Not that it matters, but a majority of the hijackings back then...the perps lived reasonably close to the place where they attempted their crime. Not all, but most. What you need to put this to bed once and for all is to get a look at the FBI files on Hahneman. The Feds had him locked up for 12 years. His files should be extensive if you include the actual investigation into his Honduras-over-the-jungle jump. 

 

Robert, you just have so many inaccurate assumptions.. stop making up stuff.

Cooper's comments don't indicate he was FROM PNW. He was familiar. Hahneman was military and flew frequently to SE Asia. I have a record of him flying NWA into Seattle. You don't need to be from Seattle to know McChord.. Most military aircrew would know McChord.. 

White guy,, I explained this before,, you ignore it. Latin people were referred to as white back then, the terms "latino/hispanic" were widely adopted later. Hahneman described himself as white, dark skin. The witnesses described Cooper as "Latin/Mexican/Native American (Blood) in appearance and features. The FBI docs are riddled with those descriptions, it is irrefutable.

Hahneman chose a plane to hijack in the NE because it was short, less likely to have Sky Marshall's and less crowded. He went to Mexico, had the plane fly a loop over Honduras, jumped and the plane landed back in Mexico. That was far too. 

According to a US official Hahneman had planned his hijacking for a year.. pre-dating Cooper. He was no "copycat". Hahneman moved to the US when he was 12.. became a naturalized US citizen and was 49 during NORJAK. 

I never claimed he wasn't investigated for NORJAK, you just made that up. I know he was but I also know the FBI claimed he returned from his job in the Far East in Jan 72,, but that is completely false. I don't know if they are lying or incompetent. I don't know that they eliminated him but if it was based on that, they were wrong.

I do have FOIA docs on Hahneman and lots of information.

Hahneman was not talking and he had people in very high places intervening.

 

The FBI has redacted Hahneman from the Cooper files even though he died long ago, they didn't redact KC, Rackstraw, McCoy and many others.. Why, if he died and was eliminated, why redact.

But the most interesting thing about Hahneman is that he fits Cooper better than any suspect yet there is nothing about him from the FBI. There is a ton on other high profile eliminated suspects but not Hahneman... nothing. 

 

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(edited)
9 hours ago, RobertMBlevins said:

KC isn't in any FBI files. Not unless new files were created after 2007. I wasn't making stuff up. I was making assumptions based on the known facts. 

Hahneman was arrested for air piracy, convicted, and served 12 years. Seems obvious if he was Cooper, someone in the FBI would have figured it out somewhere along the way. 

You say a 'US official' (unnamed) said Hahneman had been planning his hijacking for a year. So why would he go all the way to Podunk Portland to do that...not be discovered, get away with the money, and then try another one just eight months later back on the east coast? I've heard of guts and nerve, but that's a stretch. And if he was caught for this SECOND skyjacking, he could have gotten a big break on both crimes by offering to confess to both. Instead, he gets nothing and does 12 years in prison? Some hijackers actually got out of jail in five years or less. 

 

Robert, you made claims that are false.. you made claims that have no evidence, you made claims contrary to what I have already posted. These are beyond opinion.

 

KC is named in the FBI files, the most recent one. #51.. I already mentioned that here you missed it I guess. In the mid 90's.

I have the name of the US official... I don't give all the details because I have far too much information to post on a forum. I was making a broad point. Hahneman was not a copycat, he was labelled one and that false label enabled people to dismiss him as a Cooper suspect for almost 50 years. 

You have promoted a fallacy, an assumption, that if the FBI looked at Hahneman or any suspect and since he wasn't charged then he wasn't Cooper... there can be many reasons a person isn't ultimately charged.

That is where I started,,, asking the question, was Hahneman ever eliminated and if so why. I can't find any reason for Hahneman to be eliminated, from the FBI or my own research.

 

KC named in the FBI files 1996.. there are more pages in there. Hahneman is in the Cooper docs but redacted... 

So, by your (false) logic KC was known to the FBI but not charged so he wasn't Cooper.. right. 

Somebody in 1996 pushed the KC was Cooper narrative.. was that one of your sources, recognize the hand writing, from Morris MN (1996), did they disclose this to you.

kcfile.jpeg.0784903dc0e72713ef872379824ee82d.jpegkcFBI2.jpeg.254f3776438f9cb041f9df53abc10b0e.jpeg

Edited by FLYJACK

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Cooper was universally described as Latin/Mexican/Native Indian (blood)...

Both in appearance and features,, 

 

If your suspect doesn't appear "Latin" and "swarthy", he isn't Cooper.

That alone eliminates nearly all of the higher profile suspects.

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(edited)

This sums it up,,, even if the FBI had Cooper they couldn't make a case without his cooperation. Limited physical evidence and weak eyewitness identification...

 

From the FBI files..

"During a conference in San Francisco in April, 1976, several West Coast pivision case agents and the Bureau supervisor at that time reviewed captioned investigation. A memorandum from that conference reported that there were no quality suspects at the time and only limited physical evidence. Eyewitness identification was considered weak at that time. Nearly 10 years have passed since that conference. The conference came to the conclusion that "if COOPER was to surrender to authorities now or in the near future, it would be extremely difficult to make the case if he was uncooperative.”"

Edited by FLYJACK

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(edited)

If this hasn't been covered before ... does anyone know the names of the F-106 pilots? Over at the F-106 facebook page, there's a post by Doug Barbier that one of the F-106 pilots was Roy Keyt of the 318th FIS out of McChord AFB (now deceased). At the F-106 forum, a post by Mike Trefethen (ex 456th FIS) mentions Russ Weber (or Webber) of the 84th FIS out of Hamilton AFB. As far as I know, the official narrative has never mentioned a chase plane from Hamilton.

Edited by DFS346
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6 hours ago, DFS346 said:

If this hasn't been covered before ... does anyone know the names of the F-106 pilots? Over at the F-106 facebook page, there's a post by Doug Barbier that one of the F-106 pilots was Roy Keyt of the 318th FIS out of McChord AFB (now deceased). At the F-106 forum, a post by Mike Trefethen (ex 456th FIS) mentions Russ Weber (or Webber) of the 84th FIS out of Hamilton AFB. As far as I know, the official narrative has never mentioned a chase plane from Hamilton.

I found...  but was never able to confirm.

Randall L. "Randy" Plumb 

Harve Wallace 

 

https://www.key.aero/forum/modern-military-aviation/25530-the-m-ay-0-4-quiz

"#10 -- On Thanksgiving eve of 1971 two F-106A of the 318th FIS scrambled from McChord AFB. Why?
Yes, "D.B.Cooper". Was he the only one ever jumping out of a commercial flight? Really have to ask the folks at the commercial forum about that. Btw it was Northwest Flight 305 from Portland to Seattle and the two F-106 pilots were Randy Plumb and Harve Wallace."

 

Seems a bit fuzzy..

https://forum.f-106deltadart.com/thread/2508/106-video

"On the D B Cooper (actual D Cooper, D B Cooper was found and it warn't him- the ticket was listed as D Cooper) F-106 chase, I don't know that the 318th chased them but the 84th did. During my time at Hamilton on the Block S protoproof (Apr-May 1972), I met and talked to one of the pilots, Russ Web(b?)er. He said they couldn't see much and didn't see the air stair come down. It was a dark and stormy nite. History channel (or whoever) made a documentry at some point but used F-102 vice sixes as the chase."

 

Here... Maj Russell Weber was in the 84th in Oct 1971.. (doesn't look like he was one of the F106 318th chase pilots, or any chase pilot.. fractured leg and shoulder in Oct 71)

"Hamilton Air Force Base officials said today. Maj. Russell Weber along with two other pilots from the 84th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Hamilton were over the Mendocino County coast when he ejected from his plane at 12,000 feet. Weber was rescued from the water two hours later. He was reported in good condition today at Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco with a fractured right leg and shoulder, and facial cuts."

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/74399221/

 

Edited by FLYJACK

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(edited)
4 hours ago, FLYJACK said:

was never able to confirm./ Randall L. "Randy" Plumb / Harve Wallace 

Randall L Plumb was with the 354th TFS, flying F-105s, at Takhli in 1967. I have not found any reference to him in conjunction with the 318th or F-106s.

Edited by DFS346
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1 hour ago, DFS346 said:

Randall L Plumb was with the 354th TFS, flying F-105s, at Takhli in 1967. I have not found any reference to him in conjunction with the 318th or F-106s.

May 1968 Randall L Plumb  was signed up for the F 106 training program...

Signed up for the F-106 Ground School only are Colonel Henry P. Rettinger, 322nd FIS, Kingsley Field, Ore.; and Majors Wilton R Chavis, 437th FIS, Oxnard AFB, Calif.; Richard G. Painter, 325th Fighter Wing, McChord AFB, Wash.; and Randall L. Plumb, 437th FIS, Oxnard AFB, Calif, also Captains Eugene W. Bricker, Carl J. Henderson, Russell M. Lanning, Charles A. Martindale md George A- Speck, all of the 437th FIS, Oxnard AFB, Calif. Maintenance Squadron, was presented a certificate of recognition designating the squadron's duty performance during the past calendar quarter. 

 

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/39145450/

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Noticed something odd...

There is a white cotton/canvas bag with the pink reserve parachute shown by the FBI during the History channel show.. "D B Cooper case closed"

That white bag was NOT shown during Tom Kaye's examination..

https://citizensleuths.com/pink-parachute-gallery.html

Is it part of the reserve chute? or something else? It looks attached. Didn't an FBI file state Cooper tried to wrap the money in white material..

It came out of the box with the reserve container and pink chute.. appears attached to the open reserve container??

reservechutewhitscontainer.jpeg.dc7941e2b91bddb77df1439e55c65e39.jpeg

bagchute2.jpeg.9f762b7b05189b088f81ed031dd8115c.jpeg

bagchute3.jpeg.e1ad32c19749ecc2a1a49188a9cda25f.jpeg

 

 

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9 hours ago, FLYJACK said:

Noticed something odd...

There is a white cotton/canvas bag with the pink reserve parachute shown by the FBI during the History channel show.. "D B Cooper case closed"

That white bag was NOT shown during Tom Kaye's examination..

https://citizensleuths.com/pink-parachute-gallery.html

Is it part of the reserve chute? or something else? It looks attached. Didn't an FBI file state Cooper tried to wrap the money in white material..

It came out of the box with the reserve container and pink chute.. appears attached to the open reserve container??

reservechutewhitscontainer.jpeg.dc7941e2b91bddb77df1439e55c65e39.jpeg

bagchute2.jpeg.9f762b7b05189b088f81ed031dd8115c.jpeg

bagchute3.jpeg.e1ad32c19749ecc2a1a49188a9cda25f.jpeg

 

 

More pics...  Tom said he never saw a white "bag"

Could it be some inner liner that perhaps was not sent to Tom?? or from the dummy chute?? It has an evidence tag attached to it.

 

 

reservebag6.jpeg.3762ad488d772295af9546484fd250f0.jpeg

reservebag5.jpeg.5f10ea7c2f6c70b3d3cfe8a87af30fd6.jpeg

reservebag4.jpeg.8babb46da40ec6db3ba8e35db603aba2.jpeg

 

Edited by FLYJACK

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7 hours ago, FLYJACK said:

Noticed something odd...

That white thing is odd. I don't think it's part of the gear, that container would not have any sort of inner liner or outer covering. It does not appear in any of Tom Kaye's pictures, and that ragged edge is not consistent with any manufactured parachute gear. It's weird that it does appear attached, perhaps it's just snagged? It seems to have some writing on it, is there any shot where that is legible? Those pics appear to be screen grabs from a video, would it be possible to upload the video to youtube or somewhere and link to it here? It might be helpful to see how it 'moves' with the gear as it's being taken out of the box. It has an evidence tag? Is it possibly part of the bank bag? Is it known whether that video is before or after Tom Kaye got his look at it?

------

Not sure if I ever posted this, but those non-pink lines attached to the handles of the container were most likely there when it was given to Cooper. I was trying to better remember that gear from my early days, R99 made a guess that turned out to be correct, I asked a rigger about it, and...  On those reserves, the main attachment point (for both the container and the canopy inside) is those two metal clips on the top. But if that was all that was attached, the container would flop around, so the bottom of the container had to be secured down. On the original rigs those were designed with, the main container had a strap that was sewn on one hip, threaded through those side handles, and attached to the other hip. On later rigs, the reserve had a strap across the bottom of the back that would clip onto lower D-rings on the main harness. In that picture you posted of Emerick standing by his gear rack, I believe such a strap can be seen on the reserve that he is holding. On other rigs, they simply attached a piece of line to the handles and tied it to the main harness, and that is what those lines are. Again, it's nothing structural as to how the reserve attaches, it just holds the bottom of the container down.

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Also, in the D B Cooper case closed is a RECORDAK box...

This is probably the money...  it was complicated because 30k of the 230k money from the original emergency bank stash was immediately made into another bank stash. The FBI couldn't sort out the list from the original Micro and asked for a list of the second bank stash.

Tom said he couldn't find it..

 

The key is the original order of the bills..

 

FBI evidence..

filmrecordcooper.jpeg.b6490f7b65f5e9e6c6928f361f58f3b1.jpeg

 

Image of random Recorak box from net to confirm..

microfilm-of-the-miners-journal-pa-newpaper_1_b0ebc79cb704bbc45db01d5aebd0a5ea.jpg.f0fc5503692f8c5dd0e342e0214bc174.jpg

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1 hour ago, dudeman17 said:

That white thing is odd. I don't think it's part of the gear, that container would not have any sort of inner liner or outer covering. It does not appear in any of Tom Kaye's pictures, and that ragged edge is not consistent with any manufactured parachute gear. It's weird that it does appear attached, perhaps it's just snagged? It seems to have some writing on it, is there any shot where that is legible? Those pics appear to be screen grabs from a video, would it be possible to upload the video to youtube or somewhere and link to it here? It might be helpful to see how it 'moves' with the gear as it's being taken out of the box. It has an evidence tag? Is it possibly part of the bank bag? Is it known whether that video is before or after Tom Kaye got his look at it?

------

Not sure if I ever posted this, but those non-pink lines attached to the handles of the container were most likely there when it was given to Cooper. I was trying to better remember that gear from my early days, R99 made a guess that turned out to be correct, I asked a rigger about it, and...  On those reserves, the main attachment point (for both the container and the canopy inside) is those two metal clips on the top. But if that was all that was attached, the container would flop around, so the bottom of the container had to be secured down. On the original rigs those were designed with, the main container had a strap that was sewn on one hip, threaded through those side handles, and attached to the other hip. On later rigs, the reserve had a strap across the bottom of the back that would clip onto lower D-rings on the main harness. In that picture you posted of Emerick standing by his gear rack, I believe such a strap can be seen on the reserve that he is holding. On other rigs, they simply attached a piece of line to the handles and tied it to the main harness, and that is what those lines are. Again, it's nothing structural as to how the reserve attaches, it just holds the bottom of the container down.

I can't find the vid online.. too big to post.

It was after Tom Kaye looked at the chute.

If you PM me your email I can send a short clip.

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20 hours ago, FLYJACK said:

It was after Tom Kaye looked at the chute.

Then it has to be just something else in the box that got snagged up with it. I don't think it's related to the parachute.

-----

Flyjack, I have a question about the airstairs. In both an article and a video that were linked here some time ago, it is indicated that in their normal hydraulic operation, the stairs are either all the way up or down, they can't be lowered just part way. Supposedly Cooper had trouble getting them open, I don't know if there was a mechanism that prevented them from being lowered in flight. He then apparently pulled the emergency handle, which would disconnect them from the hydraulic system and allow them to 'free float' as was the case. (Does that all sound correct?) My question is, is it known how that compares to McCoy's and Hanneman's (sp?) experience with their stairs?

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38 minutes ago, dudeman17 said:

Then it has to be just something else in the box that got snagged up with it. I don't think it's related to the parachute.

-----

Flyjack, I have a question about the airstairs. In both an article and a video that were linked here some time ago, it is indicated that in their normal hydraulic operation, the stairs are either all the way up or down, they can't be lowered just part way. Supposedly Cooper had trouble getting them open, I don't know if there was a mechanism that prevented them from being lowered in flight. He then apparently pulled the emergency handle, which would disconnect them from the hydraulic system and allow them to 'free float' as was the case. (Does that all sound correct?) My question is, is it known how that compares to McCoy's and Hanneman's (sp?) experience with their stairs?

The stairs are hydraulic lift, gravity drop..  they need to extend fully to lock down. 

When Cooper pulled the lever to open them the air resistance kept them up, slightly open.

The pilot slowed the plane down to about 170 knots and Cooper made his way down, his weight pushing the airstairs open but they never locked fully down. When he jumped the loss of weight and air resistance pushed the airstairs back up..

There is no evidence Cooper pulled the emergency handle, that is speculation to try to explain the placard...  WE don't know if that plane had the emergency system, if Cooper used it or if the placard even came from that plane.

 

Tina showed Cooper how to open the airstairs,, Hahneman did not get airstair instructions, the speed was just 125 knots jumping at 9,000 feet. Hahneman walked backward down the stairs and went off back first.

 

Edited by FLYJACK

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