The unsolved mystery of 1971’s Flight 305 hijacking
Michael is joined by Alan Howe, The Australian Newspaper History and Obituaries editor, about the unsolved mystery of the 1971 hijacking of Flight 305 the skydiving hijacker who grabbed his $200,000 ransom and jumped into the night sky, never to be seen again.
Fifty years ago today, a man signing off as Dan Cooper paid $20 cash for an early afternoon flight from Portland in Oregon to Seattle in Washington state. On board he threatened to blow up the plane unless a ransom was paid and parachutes brought to him.
He later jumped from the passenger jet. What happened next sparked off a 45-year police hunt and record-long FBI investigation that stretches to 60 volumes – but it remains a remarkable mystery that is as unknown now as it was on that freezing Wednesday in 1971.
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