Cold case · 1970s
Also known as D. B. Cooper Hijacking · Dan Cooper Hijacking
The short answer
Following the unsolved November 1971 D. B. Cooper hijacking, more than a dozen copycat hijackers across the United States (and several abroad) attempted similar extortion-and-parachute schemes through 1972, prompting aviation security reforms including the "Cooper vane" and widespread metal detectors.
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Suggest coverage for this caseIn November 1971, an unidentified man known as D. B. Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight, extorted ransom money, and parachuted from the aircraft, evading capture. The case became widely publicized, and within the following year more than a dozen copycat hijackers in the United States attempted similar schemes: hijack a commercial aircraft, demand a cash ransom and parachutes, and bail out mid-flight to escape.
Documented copycat incidents include Everett Holt's December 1971 hijacking of a Northwest Orient flight; Billy Hurst's January 1972 hijacking of Braniff Flight 38; Richard Charles LaPoint's hijacking of Hughes Airwest Flight 800, after which he was captured following his parachute jump over Colorado; Merlyn St. George's alleged attempted hijacking of a Mohawk Airlines flight, which ended when he was shot and killed by an FBI agent; Richard McCoy Jr.'s hijacking of United Airlines Flight 855, considered the most notable of the copycat cases, for which he was convicted and sentenced to 45 years, later escaping prison and being killed in a subsequent shootout with FBI agents; Stanley Speck's hijacking of a Pacific Southwest Airlines flight, ending in his arrest via a ruse by the pilot and FBI agents; Frederick Hahneman's hijacking of Eastern Air Lines Flight 175, followed by a 28-day manhunt in Honduras before his surrender; Robb Heady's hijacking of United Airlines Flight 239; Martin McNally's hijacking of an American Airlines 727, during which a bystander rammed the aircraft with a car; Francis Goodell's hijacking of a Pacific Southwest Airlines flight; the joint hijacking of a National Airlines flight by Michael Green and Lulseged Tesfa; and Melvin Fisher's hijacking of an American Airlines flight, in which he ultimately surrendered rather than jump.
Each case resulted in arrest, conviction, or, in one instance, the hijacker's death during apprehension. Sentences ranged from psychiatric commitment to life imprisonment. In response to this wave of extortion hijackings, the aviation industry and federal regulators introduced countermeasures, including the "Cooper vane," a device fitted to aircraft to prevent the rear airstairs from being lowered during flight, and the broader rollout of metal detectors at American airports. These measures are credited with ending the wave of copycat hijackings.
Other hijackings outside the United States are believed to have involved similar jump-and-escape methods but not necessarily inspired by the original Cooper case, including a November 1972 hijacking of a Japan Airlines flight in Tokyo by a man demanding $2 million and a flight to Cuba, who was overpowered by police; a 1992 hijacking of Vietnam Airlines Flight 850 by a former South Vietnamese air force pilot who parachuted out after dropping political leaflets and was later arrested on the ground; and a 2000 hijacking of Philippine Airlines Flight 812 in which the hijacker died after his parachute failed to deploy.
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Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Convicted of aircraft piracy in 1973 for hijacking Braniff Flight 38; sentenced to 20 years.[3]
Sentenced to 30 years for air piracy after hijacking a Pacific Southwest Airlines flight in July 1972.[3]
Sentenced to life imprisonment for hijacking, kidnapping, and extortion after hijacking Eastern Air Lines Flight 175 in May 1972; served 12 years.[3]
Sentenced to a 60-year prison term for hijacking a National Airlines flight in July 1972 with Michael Green; released in 1982.[3]
Convicted in 1972 of hijacking an American Airlines 727 and sentenced to two concurrent life terms plus additional consecutive sentences for air piracy, kidnapping, attempted escape, and conspiracy; paroled in 2010.[3]
Sentenced to life imprisonment following a September 1972 trial for hijacking an American Airlines flight.[3]
Sentenced to a 50-year prison term for hijacking a National Airlines flight in July 1972 with Lulseged Tesfa; released in 1984.[3]
Pleaded guilty to aircraft piracy for hijacking Hughes Airwest Flight 800; sentenced to 40 years.[3]
Convicted for hijacking United Airlines Flight 855 in April 1972; sentenced to 45 years, later escaped prison and was killed in a shootout with FBI agents.[1]
Pleaded guilty to aircraft piracy in September 1972 for hijacking United Airlines Flight 239; sentenced to 30 years.[3]
Convicted of hijacking a Japan Airlines 727 in Tokyo in November 1972 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; he was overpowered by police judo experts during the operation.[3]
Identified as the man who hijacked a Mohawk Airlines flight in January 1972; shot and killed by an FBI agent while fleeing with a hostage, so was never prosecuted.[3]
A 25-year-old Indiana University dropout who hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 734 on 24 December 1971, firing a pistol and claiming to have dynamite, and demanding $300,000 and two parachutes in a copycat of the D.B. Cooper hijacking; he surrendered after the flight crew escaped the cockpit while he counted the ransom. He was committed to a mental hospital and released in May 1975, when the charges against him were dismissed. He was never convicted. No charges remain pending against him in this case.[3]
From the record
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