Irrespective of the hijacker's ethnicity, I think that when reflecting on his prior place of residence, it's useful to think about probabilities. In the field of criminology, there's an extensive literature (dating back to the 1800s) regarding the distance that the offender travels in order to commit the crime. I have the impression that broadly speaking, the probability of the place of residence decreases with the distance travelled. Agent Carr, if he ever visits this forum, might confirm this.
However, the "distance decay" function varies, depending on the type of crime, the age and the ethnicity of the criminal, and other factors. Again speaking very broadly: property crimes have higher journey distances than crimes against persons; conversely, older criminals travel shorter distances than younger ones.
For those interested, there's a quite readable article, without a lot of jargon, at You are not allowed to view links.
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If you take Cooper's comments at face value, then Cooper was someone in a place, or in a position, to monitor flights and aircraft types, looking/waiting for an opportunity to hijack a 727. He may have been a frequent flier?
* In response to her query as to why he had chosen a Northwest airplane to hijack, he said ‘he had “a grudge but not against Northwest Airlines” adding ‘that the Northwest plane just happened to be in the right place at the right time’.
* It was during the period of furnishing these conditions the hijacker became extremely annoyed over the time it was taking to refuel the plane, as he had ordered.
* hijacker displayed an extensive knowledge of the aircraft and seemed specifically well informed in refueling procedures to the point that the crew had difficulty in convincing him that only 90% of the required fuel was on board at the time he was protesting the fact that refueling had not been completed.
* Schaffner said the man spoke of going to Mexico City, Phoenix, or San Francisco. She said that he did not appear to know exactly where he was destined for.
* Hancock says that ‘Flo’ had told her that he hijacker wanted to go to Mexico and was very concerned throughout the flight about Sky Marshals being on board the aircraft.
* if they were going to Cuba airline personnel were advised to warn passengers against buying Cuban rum or cigars because US Customs would confiscate them when they returned to the United States. (Mucklow says) the hijacker laughed and said ‘they weren’t going to Cuba, but she would like where they were going’.
* identified Tacoma from the air.
* gave traveling time and mileage of Seattle from McChord AFB.
* said Minneapolis was 'nice country'. He asked her where she was from and she told him she was from Pennsylvania but was living in Minneapolis. He replied that ‘Minneapolis, Minnesota is very nice country’.
* had Sky Chef matcbook in his pocket ...
* She asked him why he picked Northwest Airlines to hijack and he laughed and said “It’s not because I have a grudge against your airlines (plural), it’s just because I have a grudge”. He paused and said ‘that the flight suited his time, place, and plans.’
* asked ticket agent at Portland if NWO flight 305 was a 727 coming in from . . .
* “If that is a Sky Marshall I don’t want any more of that”, and Mucklow reassured the hijacker it wasn’t (a sky marshal) and further ‘that there are no sky marshals on this flight’.
* She told him that they had crew meals and maps, and requested permission to go get them. He replied “yes” and Mucklow went to get the items and returned taking a seat next to him.
* The man impressed her as being an executive type by his dress, special mannerisms, and consideration that he exhibited for her while he was on the aircraft.
It all fits together. He has traveled a lot ? He has selected a regional business flight 727 that has only been on the schedule since August 1971. He has Sky Chef matches from some airport in his pocket...
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