General Category > DB Cooper
Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
haggarknew:
He might have known the stall speed? The speed he requested was just above stall speed wasn't it?
Jack:
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Register or LoginAs an aside, he was familiar with the Sea-Tac region from the air which would indicate he had flown over that area quite a bit.
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If you're talking about his pointing out of the McChord Air force base, I don't think that is necessarily an indication of having flown over that area quite a bit.
He has knowledge of the air force base, and I'm sure it wouldn't have been too difficult to pick it out from the air, even if you had never flown over it before.
It's possible that his pointing out of Mcchord actually
may point to his lack of commercial Flight travel over
that area.
If he had flown over the area quite a bit, I would think there would be no reason for him to be pointing it out as he would assume most others have already seen and know about it.
Either that or he is (has been) a teacher of some sort and can't resist thinking he's teaching someone something.
nickyb233:
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Register or Login""Did not know how to actually lower stairs.""
I think we should define this one some more.
Cooper did not know how to lower the stairs in a commercial civilian plane.
He requested that they release the stairs from the pilot's cabin.
This is how the 727's adapted for military use released their aft stairs.
This shows that Cooper's knowledge seems to come from personal military experience, or from personal military knowledge, or from a second hand military source.
Jack
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The problem with that is the 727-C which Southern Air Transport owned/operated out of Yakota AFB in Japan and was used for covert missions... dropping agents in china during the vietnam war... this 727-C did not have any kind of a switch in the cockpit to operate the aft stairs. It had the same hydraulic control system config as the 100. Air America the other CIA outfit did a cargo air drop experiment with the 727 where they actually removed the aft stairs and replaced it with a sheet metal ramp. This thing was not controlled by the AC's hydraulic system and also had no control from the cockpit. Air america also just used the 727-C to transport troops and cargo. So if cooper did make that comment about the cockpit controlling the aft stairs it doesn't seem to have come from experience with any military version of the 727. Does anybody here remember where that comment is referenced. Was it the Tina Debrief? I forgot...
Thanks
Nicky
Jack:
Thanks for the info Nicky.
Do you have any thoughts as to where Cooper got the knowledge regarding the plane's ability to take off with the aft stairs lowered?
nickyb233:
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Register or LoginThanks for the info Nicky.
Do you have any thoughts as to where Cooper got the knowledge regarding the plane's ability to take off with the aft stairs lowered?
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I don't know if Boeing ever did a take off with them down during flight tests but that's one possibility.
I would say just from knowing the plane pretty intimately overall as the evidence suggests.
I think he knew the design and durability of the 727 and was confident it could handle it.
He was proven correct with a later incident involving a 727 known as the last flight out of Danang.
The Boeing 727-100 is one tough Bird
40 to 50% Overloaded with passengers
Can't take off from runway, forced to takeoff from taxiway
Has a grenade exploded under the left wing and damaged flaps
Leaking fuel
Multiple Mechanical Problems
Still made it from Da Nang to Saigon, 600 km away.
Nicky
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