D.B. Cooper is the alias of an unidentified man who hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 on November 24, 1971. He boarded the plane in Portland, Oregon, and during the flight to Seattle, Washington, he handed a flight attendant a note claiming he had a bomb and demanded $200,000 in ransom along with four parachutes. After the plane landed in Seattle, the passengers were released in exchange for the ransom and parachutes. The plane then took off again, bound for Mexico City, but somewhere between Seattle and Reno, Cooper opened the rear door, deployed the stairs, and parachuted into the night with the ransom money. He vanished without a trace, and despite an extensive FBI investigation lasting decades, his true identity and fate remain unknown

. The FBI speculated that Cooper was likely a military-trained parachutist familiar with the Seattle area and that he was intelligent, methodical, and well-prepared. Some ransom money was found years later near the Columbia River, but no conclusive evidence about Cooper's identity or survival was ever uncovered. The case remains the only unsolved air piracy incident in U.S. history and has become a legendary mystery, inspiring documentaries and ongoing public fascination. The FBI officially closed the case in 2016, though interest and amateur investigations continue