Parachute Clarity
Here's what I know about the parachutes:
1. Cooper asked for FOUR and received Two Back Chutes and Two Front Chutes.
2. All four had been packed by Earl Cossey.
3. One Front Chute, aka "chest" or "reserve" chute was found on the plane in Reno. Multiple shroud lines were cut - 3, 4, or 5 lines depending on which 302 one reads.
4. One Back Chute, aka, "main," was found on the plane in Reno. It was returned to its owner, Norman Hayden, in about 1975 after a court battle with the FBI.
5. No one knows definitively what kind of parachute DBC jumped with. The most logical estimation is that it was the second of the two back chutes Norman Hayden had delivered to NWO on the night of the skyjacking. Norman told me that he gave NWO two identical Pioneer/Steinthaul rigs. Hence, DBC most likely jumped with a 28' conical P/S chute. Norman later recanted this statement when interviewed by Robert Blevins, according to RMB, who claims that Hayden told him that the second chute was an NB-8.
6. Earl Cossey had claimed for decades that DBC jumped with one of the back chutes he, Cossey, had delivered to NWO. Through the years, Cossey steadfastly claimed that one of the chutes was a Pioneer/Steinthaul like Hayden's, but the second - the USED chute - was either an NB-6, an NB-8, a Paracommander, or a "Paradise" parachute, all depending on what day one spoke with Coss.
7. Earl Cossey was murdered in April 2013. This homicide is still unsolved despite being bumped to the Major Case Squad at the Kings County Sheriff's Office.
Poll