Ah, the FLQ. My first wife got busted and did six months for her ties to the FLQ in 1970, circa. She was living in a commune near Toronto and in that era the RCMP did most of their terrorist arrests via drug stings, which is how my wife was involved. They set her and her commune up for a marijuana bust, as some of the people she lived with in the commune had indirect ties to FLQ members. The Mounties were looking for a way into the inner circles of the FLQ through leveraging a pot bust.

But she appealed on the notion of her arrest being entrapment, which is was, but she was convicted nevertheless. But after politicking in the prison: going on a hunger strike, establishing a women's rights newsletter inside the lock-up, and in general just being a LOUD LADY the Mounties were all to happy to get rid of her. She was released eventually on her entrapment appeal. Later, she became a social worker and continued her community work, especially with First Nations' People.

The arrest and incarceration stayed with her, however, and she refused to apply for an US green card via the marriage route because she was afraid that she would be turned down due to her record. She didn't want to risk entering the USA on her customary tourist visa, which lasted 30 days at a clip, which allowed her to spend time with me and also go back to Canada to see her kids, who were grown by the time I met her.

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I have never looked into it, but there was a radical group similar to SLA at that time in Quebec called the FLQ..

timeline

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In 1969 two FLQ members hijacked a 727 in the US.

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All very valid points! Canada was of course the escape point for Americans in trouble with the law in the 60s-70s, for everything from draft evasion to terrorist bombings to soldiers awal etc. Miles of the US/Canadian border wasn;t even protected in those years. BTW your wiki link to Front_de_libération_du_Québec comes up empty here in USA (at least at my isp) ... maybe there's an alternate url?

I could look it up but to save time can you link to the two USA hijackings conducted by Québécois (or Canadians FLQ) in 1969?

Let me just mention that it was not just Americans fleeing to Canada, but foreign student visa holders resident in the USA, eg from Britain, who got involved in protests and bombings here and then fled to Canada ... Toronto seemed a common destination from the central States.

I knew Canadians who were in the USA with green cards who moved back to Canada just to get away from the 1960 era violence.

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I have never looked into it, but there was a radical group similar to SLA at that time in Quebec called the FLQ..

timeline

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In 1969 two FLQ members hijacked a 727 in the US.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or LoginĂ©ration_du_QuĂ©bec

All very valid points! Canada was of course the escape point for Americans in trouble with the law in the 60s-70s, for everything from draft evasion to terrorist bombings to soldiers awal etc. Miles of the US/Canadian border wasn't even monitored in those years.

BTW your wiki link to Front_de_libĂ©ration_du_QuĂ©bec comes up empty here in USA (at least at my isp) ... maybe there's an alternate url? Suggest this in English: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

I could look it up but to save time can you link to the two USA hijackings conducted by Québécois (or Canadians FLQ) in 1969?

Let me just mention that it was not just Americans fleeing to Canada, but foreign student visa holders resident in the USA, eg from Britain, who got involved in protests and bombings here and then fled to Canada ... Toronto seemed a common destination from the central States.

That link address is correct but this forum is not reading the "Ă©" and cutting it off.

try this,  or copy and paste the previous link.
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Interesting, the two FLQ members successfully hijacked a 727 in the US and went to Cuba. They returned to Canada but couldn't be extradited to the US. They remain wanted by the FBI. The FLQ was a multi-cell operation, not all members were identified.

Wanted by FBI.. for the hijacking of National Airlines Flight 91
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The FLQ was the group I mentioned earlier who kidnapped and killed a politician named Pierre Laporte. They were eventually found to be a small group, but briefly resulted in a declaration of martial law in Canada known as the October Crisis. They were a little before my memory, though - the Crisis became historically significant in Canada more for the debates it raised over the powers of the state in times of crisis. The FLQ itself became a footnote.

A quick question about clip on ties - if one flew off during a skydive, could the metal clips in any way damage the expanding chute? Could something like that, or the tie possibly becoming entangled, be a valid reason for Cooper leaving the tie behind?

Quote

A quick question about clip on ties - if one flew off during a skydive, could the metal clips in any way damage the expanding chute? Could something like that, or the tie possibly becoming entangled, be a valid reason for Cooper leaving the tie behind?

my opinion would be no..377 will be the one to answer, or R99..I think it's possible it could get in his way as in around his face. if you walk around all day in boots, I doubt you would want to keep them on while watching TV..one of the first things removed to get comfortable while wearing a suit would be the jacket, and then the tie...

The probability of a tie or metallic tie clip doing any meaningful damage to a parachute are zero for all practical purposes.  It is certainly not something that Cooper could have foreseen.

First, if Cooper was wearing the tie, it would have been under his suit coat and the rain coat that he was wearing.  It is also possible that the parachute chest strap would help keep the tie in place.  So there is little probability that the tie would have been lost in the first place.

Second, if Cooper was wearing the tie, the most likely time for it to separate from him would be during the parachute opening.  If that happened, the parachute canopy would be going up and the tie and clip would be going in the other direction (down) with respect to Cooper.

Third, even if the tie and/or tie clip came loose and somehow hit the canopy, it wouldn't make any particular difference.  Even if the tie clip went through the canopy, the hole would be so small as to be irrelevant.

Finally, I think Shutter is correct.  If the tie and clip belonged to Cooper in the first place, he probably took it off and then overlooked it as he was getting ready to jump and disposing of the brief case, paper bag, etc., in the rear of the aircraft. 

According to Robert Blevins, the story about seeing the bomb being made is hard to dispute? here is a woman 40 plus years later remembering something that was not relevant to her 40 plus years ago? how many times have we been ran out of rooms as kids, do you recall what was going on, in detail? she should be able to give us the weather for June 3, 1974? this was a few seconds of time in 1971?

Then he goes on about the tie clip...another witness knew exactly when he stopped wearing it? why would he stop wearing it anyway? more super memory it appears..then they claim to be scared of a 90 year old man lol..Bernies' sister only knew Kenny a few months prior to the hijacking, Robert quickly changed the story, as usual...so, she barely knew him but knew when he stopped wearing things?

You know what's hard to dispute...Tina standing next to Cooper, but failed to say he was the same height? Tina & Kenny are both 5' 8"

The families want the truth to come out? allow others to interview them to verify all these claims....

February 15, 2012..."I don't know what to tell you about Bernie's sister and the loan. she didn't know KC very well pre-hijacking, as she had only moved to Washington a few months previous to the crime"

The tie clip is extremely small and would not stick out as some sort of flashy jewelry you would remember 40 plus years later..and yet she identified it "without hesitation"

It's amazing how some of these witnesses have better memories than the one's who were actually involved..they talk like it happened yesterday....I have a good memory, but I can't remember a lot of detail..I remember back as far as 3 years old due to a double hernia...I still have a lot of memories from the event...being in the hospital..getting my temperature (you know where) watching for my dad to show up looking out the window..watching cartoons films, trying to stand up several days after coming home...lots of small little things...this was a tragic event, so it's a little different...I can't believe someone 13 years old walking into a shed and being told to leave and remembering (in detail) what was going on and tell this 40 plus years later...nope, not buying it for a second..

Question -- probably for 377 or any other lawyer or anyone who stayed in a Holiday Inn Express:

One of the things Blevins had said was his movie was going to say Kenny was the hijacker -- and they were going to say Bernie Geestman was his accomplice.  I thought they'd never use the real name of a living person in a movie, especially accusing someone of a felony.  Now that Bernie is dead, does that change anything?  Or is the risk of lawsuit the same?

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377