One of the parachutes connected with the hijacker known as D.B. Cooper will be on display at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma later this month.
It’s the first time in a decade that the parachute has been on display. It is one of the most requested items in the museum’s collection, according to a museum press release.
The infamous hijacking took place on Nov. 24, 1971, on a Northwest Orient 727 airliner between Portland and Seattle. A man who had reserved the ticket under the name Dan Cooper told a flight attendant he was carrying a bomb in a briefcase and demanded $200,000 and four parachutes, which he received upon landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The plane took off for Mexico City with only the pilots and Cooper on board. With two of the parachutes and the money, Cooper jumped from the plane – possibly over southwest Washington, where some of the money was found years later on a riverbank – and was never heard from again. After a decades-long investigation involving hundreds of suspects, the FBI closed the case in 2016.
The parachute on display will be one of the two that Cooper left on the plane. It will be on display from Sept. 22 through March 16, 2025. The Washington State History Museum is at 1911 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98402.
