# CRIME: $200,000 and a Parachute: D.B. Cooper Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027/crime-200-000-and-a-parachute-d-b-cooper Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027/crime-200-000-and-a-parachute-d-b-cooper.md Podcast: [Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes](https://stenobird.com/podcast/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027) Published: 2026-08-14T07:01:00+00:00 Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/serve.castfire.com/audio/8240292/8240292_2026-04-14-021132.256.mp3?rssID=5994 Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/serve.castfire.com/audio/8240292/8240292_2026-04-14-021132.256.mp3?rssID=5994 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027/episodes/crime-200-000-and-a-parachute-d-b-cooper Duration seconds: 2275 ## Resource In November 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper boarded a commercial flight in Portland, Oregon, told a flight attendant he had a bomb, and demanded $200,000 and four parachutes. After releasing the passengers in Seattle, he ordered the crew back into the air, then lowered the plane's rear stairs and leapt into the freezing night somewhere over the Pacific Northwest. He was never seen again. The hijacking exposed just how little security existed in the early days of commercial aviation, when passengers boarded without screening and a man in a suit could carry a bomb onto a plane unquestioned. Despite one of the longest investigations in FBI history, no one ever identified him or recovered his body, and only a small portion of the ransom money was ever found. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes, Vanessa Richardson revisits the only unsolved skyjacking in American history, the security gaps that made it possible, and the enduring question of who D.B. Cooper really was and whether he survived the jump. Head over to our YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios   If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes to never miss a case! To hear episodes ad-free and released a day early, subscribe to Crime House+. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. 🎧 Need More to Binge?  Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of Reddit, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, Murder True Crime Stories and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Cr… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027/episodes/crime-200-000-and-a-parachute-d-b-cooper/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/conspiracy-theories-cults-crimes-7424027/crime-200-000-and-a-parachute-d-b-cooper.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.