The most serious error on Bruce's list is that there are two 27.  There should only be one:

27. Minsch, Patrick,          [GG, heavy equip operator]           ST, Symposium, NWO
27. Mitchell, “Bill,” William      [R. Tosaw]              ST, Symposium, NWO

That's what makes it possible to add a second Kloepfer (Mrs and Floyd) compared to my list below with just Mrs, and still have 37 total passengers. Took me a while to figure this out, since I was just comparing names. I had to look at Bruce's numbers to see he used 27. twice, which explained things.

If Bruce's list is right, there are 38 passengers according to Bruce? But I suspect the addition of a second Kloepfer may be incorrect.
Bruce: do you agree? can you renumber your list? And give some detail on why you think you have two Kloepfer's but the 11/25/71 newspaper report only has one?



I reformated the newspaper list from the FBI file as last name, first name etc to match Bruce's formatting
and sorted alphabetically to match Bruce's list. I also added Dan Cooper.
I also accepted Bruce's CG reference that C. Harms Zem Spreckiel has as last name "Zem Spreckiel" and used underscore to make that one word.

Some issues.

my list, reformatted per above, of the newspaper list
Bruce has 18. as "Kloepfer, Floyd". I do not have a "Kloepfer, Bruce". WE both have Kloepfer, Mrs.
We both have 37 passengers, though. So I must have an extra, compared to Bruce

Because of spelling issues, the sort is sometimes different, in comparing the lists

Also, Bruce's list is incorrectly sorted. He has Connors before Connelly, but alphabetical order should have them opposite order.

Bruce has "Pollart, Les" ..I have "Pallart, Mr." ...Bruce should update his spelling descrepancy notes with this?
Also "McDonald" vs "MacDonald" for spelling discrepancy
Also "Michelson" vs "Michaelson" for spelling discrepancy
Also "Connelly, La Vonne" vs "Connelly, LaVonne" for spelling discrepancy
Also "Donahoe" vs "Donohoe" for spelling discrepancy
Aslo "Feingold" vs "Finegold" for spelling discrepancy
Also "Labissoniere" vs "Labisoneire" for spelling discrepancy

If Bruce was trying to document all historical spelling variances, maybe he can add some more notes?

my list, transposed and sorted from the newspaper article in the FBI files as noted in previous post.

1 Almstead, Jack
2 Andvik, Arnold O.
3 Clouse, Ray D.
4 Connelly, LaVonne
5 Connors, Mrs. Helen
6 Cooper, Dan
7 Cooper, Michael
8 Cummings, Lynn
9 Cummings, Mrs.
10 Cummings, Robert
11 Donohoe, R. P.
12 Finegold, Larry
13 Gregory, Robert B.
14 House, Nancy
15 Jensen, W. P.
16 Keats, William
17 Kloepfer, Mrs.
18 Kurota, George
19 Labisoniere, George
20 MacDonald, C. A.
21 McPherson, Bill
22 McPherson, Scott
23 McPherson, S. (son)
24 Menendez, A.
25 Michaelson, Dennis
26 Minsch, Patrick
27 Mitchell, William
28 Murphey, W. J.
29 Pallart, Mr.
30 Rice, Daniel
31 Simmons, Mrs. Barbara
32 Simmons, R. J.
33 Street, Charles
34 Truitt, A. B.
35 Weitzel, Mr.
36 Wornstaff, J. R.
37 Zem_Spreckiel, C. Harms

Okay I see Bruce updated his list in 2017 without the two Kloepfers.
he changed some spellings, like Kloepher now.

I repost Bruce's 2017 list here. Is this considered the definitive list and spelling now?

All of the following is from Bruce August 26, 2017


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Flight 305 Passenger List – 35, plus hijacker



NAME                        ORIGINATION

1. Almstad, Jack                        Great Falls
2. Andvik, Arnold                     Missoula
3. Clause, Roy, D.                     Missoula
4. Conley, Lavonne                     Missoula
5. Connors, Mrs. Helen                  Missoula
6. Cooper, Michael                     Missoula
7. Cummings, Mrs. Adele                  Great Falls
8. Cummings, Lynn                     Great Falls
9. Cummings, Robert                     Great Falls
10. Donahoe, Raymond                  Missoula
11. Finegold, Larry                     PDX
12. Jensen, Wesley, P.                  Spokane
13. Keats, William                     Minneapolis
14. Kloepher, Floyd                     Great Falls
15. Kurata, George                     PDX
16. Mac Donald, Clifford Austin               PDX
17. Mac Pherson, Scott                  Spokane
18. Mac Pherson, William                  Spokane
19. Menendez, Adrian                     PDX
20. Mikelson, Dennis                     Great Falls
21. Minsch, Patrick                     PDX
22. Murphy, William, J                  Great Falls
23. Pollart, Les                        PDX
24. Rice, Daniel                        Great Falls
25. Simmons, Barbara                  PDX
26. Simmons, Richard                     PDX
27. Truitt, Alan, B.                     Missoula
28. Street, Charles                     Missoula
29. Weitzel, Paul (part of the MacPherson party)      Spokane
30. Wornstaff, James, R                  PDX

Additional, the Core-Five who spoke with the FBI because of their involvement with the hijacker:
1. Robert Gregory                     PDX
2. Nancy House                        PDX
3. George Labissioniere                  PDX
4. Bill Mitchell                        PDX
5. Cord Harms Spreckel                  PDX
6. DAN COOPER                             PDX

It is my observation that most passenger lists are incorrect. Certainly the list published in the Seattle Times in 1971 and presented by Abracadabra at the Portland Symposium is incorrect. Also, Sluggo's is flawed, and most certainly Jo Weber's assertion that a smokejumper by the name of Loughton was aboard 305 is not factual. In addition, there is a document touted as the actual NWO flight manifest - on a NWO letterhead - that I believe is inaccurate, as well, and thus is counterfeit.

Note: Most lists claim that the MacPherson party had two certain individuals - Scott MacPherson and S. MacPherson (son), as on the Seattle Times compendium. But these individuals are one and same person. Further, Scott MacPherson was the son of William MacPherson, and was sitting next to him up in the forward part of the cabin. I spoke with Scott in 2015, and he was very chatty in giving me a description of his family's participation in the event. Scott and his father were accompanied by an employee of William's real estate development firm, Paul Weitzel, who has been unresponsive to interview requests..

Besides Scott MacPherson, I have spoken with Jack Almstad, Bill Mitchel, Mike Cooper, and Larry Finegold. I have also spoken with Karen Pruitt, who confirmed and expanded her father's account - Alan B Truitt, who was traveling with three colleagues: Andy Andvik, Charlie Street, and Pat Donahoe.

Jack Almstad was living in Livermore, California when I spoke with him circa 2011. I believe he is now deceased, as his phone is disconnected.

Larry Finegold is living in Israel and Seattle, and is generally available for comment.

Bill Mitchell, although initially very good-natured and good-humored, turned adversarial 24 hours later for reasons that are unknown to me. He refuses all contact, but he talks with Tom Colbert, and gave an extensive interview to the WSHM in 2013. He also appeared on-camera for the History Channel docu in 2016. His recollections of the events of November 24, 1971 are often in conflict with the statements of other passengers - but in alignment with the flight attendants - leading me to believe that he is part of a spin job created by NWO in the early hours of the skyjacking.

In contrast, Mike Cooper is a very honest and thorough individual. He is completely transparent on his activities before, during and after. Because of his name, he was a prime suspect in the first few days of the investigation, and was fired from his teaching job at a high school in Missoula due to FBI pressure. He was later reinstated, and talks publicly about his experiences. He lives in on the Olympic Peninsula.

Additionally, here is the estimated location of certain passengers during the flight. According to most passengers, they stayed in their seats until final approach to Sea-Tac, in stark contrast to the FA's account, and Bill Mitchell's. These positionings are not definitive, but are based upon recollections, 302s, and statements to me that are often in conflict.

1. William and Scott MacPherson, left side, Row 2
2. Paul Weitzel, right side, Row 2
3. Floyd Kloepfer, right side, Row 3
4. Larry Finegold, left side, row 6
5. Barbara and Richard Simmons, right side, Row 6
6. Drunk passenger in cowboy hat, (Row 7-9?)
7. Passenger in uniform, (Row 7-10?)
8. Jack Almstad, left side, Row 8.
9. George Labissioniere and Les Pollart, left side, Row 12
10. Nancy House, right side Row 15
11. Mike Cooper, left side Row 17
12. Cord Harm Spreckel, right side, Row 17
13. Bill Mitchell, Robert Gregory, left side Row 18
14. DBC, right side Row 18

like the parachutes, the money, and everything else the FBI did, it's fascinating that a basic item like the passenger list takes a lot of work to sort out.

Bruce you've done great work in sorting out the passenger list and interviewing who you can.

you should try to get a graphic of the plane seats and known passengers in each seat, as a visual in your new edition.

I don't know how much detail you go into, about passengers in your book, but there seems to be a lot to get the list right and spellings right. Lots of wrong info in history.

I'm out of the cooper biz. I will claim inability to do anything with computers

So Bruce, it looks like your best guess with all your new info, is that there were 36 passengers *including* Dan Cooper. Not 37.

EDIT: in your last post, you switched the last name, first name convention to first name last name...should make the consistent. (the "Additional" names should be last, first)

A second question.
Is there an accepted list of serial numbers for all the bills? ..that most agree on?

I know the history of how the FBI recorded initially, on the night of the hijacking, just the first and last serials in each group of bills, and then used that later to extract the full set of individual numbers from the microfiche,

and how there was the fubar with that first set of first/last serials being wrong because it included some stacks that were not given to Cooper.

I'm familiar with the list published in Tosaw's book. I believe there was some discussion about whether the total number of serials there matched the total number of bills apparently given to Cooper.

Is there accepted wisdom for exactly how many individual bills Cooper got, and whether any published FBI list is correct (to some level of certainty) for all the bills Cooper received? While the number of 'banded' (somehow) stacks is interesting in terms of the FBI records, I'm mainly interested in serials for individual bills.

I seem to remember there was some typos in the FBI files in one of the reports, regarding the stacks and first/last numbers.. I know there was discussion about the full set of top/bottom serials. Because the FBI report corrected itself later on.

But was that ever resolved so that the Tosaw list was considered correct? Or a summary description of what might be wrong with the Tosaw list.

I've never seen the published FBI list of serials. I suppose it's in the FBI files somewhere. That could be useful to crosscheck Tosaw's list for typos, if someone knows what file/page numbers it would be on?

Thanks for any pointers. memory is foggy on this.

Welcome to the Foggy Memory Club, Snow. My memory of the serial numbers is close to what you've described. Here's the gist:

1. FBI had $250K on tap at Sea First Bank in Seattle. $230K in twenties, and $20K in tens. All recorded on microfiche.

2. Yes. The serial number of some of the twenties "left behind" at Sea First made it onto the Cooper ransom list that Tosaw published.

3. There may have been a typo or two, as well, on transcription.

4. As I recall, Flyjack was responsible for all the heavy lifting on this information. As usual he was castigated for his efforts, which led ultimately to him leaving this forum and seeking other avenues to discussing the case, such as the DZ and individual emails.

5. There was even a delicious moment when we discussed the possibility that the money find at T-Bar is NOT DB Cooper's ransom money, but rather is from another crime. An extortion payment to another criminal, perhaps, and unreported!

Since we're talking passengers, here are a few more tidbits:

The experiences of the hijacked passengers are vital to understanding the facts of the case since so much in dispute. Many details presented below have already been discussed, such as the entrance of an FBI agent during the money exchange, but it is useful to have a comprehensive overview of the actions of these individuals, coupled with their biographical background.

Most investigators have chosen to protect the privacy of the passengers of Flight 305 unless they have chosen individually to make public statements, and I did the same initially. But I've learned that many of the passengers tell a different story than the crew or the FBI, so I reversed my position and have launched an outreach. Three issues are dominant: one, did the crew move the passengers forward and restrict their subsequent movement; two, how was the money transferred between NWO officials and crew, and did any FBI agents board the plane in that process; and three, where did key witnesses sit, and did anyone get a really good look at the skyjacker?

Of course, one might ask if the differences in the details of the passengers' accounts are indicative of age and a fading memory, or are a manifestation of a lack of truthfulness. Or are they an indication that the official records have been doctored in some fashion to place NWO and the FBI in a more favorable light, such as to show a more pro-active response to passenger safety by removing them quickly from the seats near the hijacker, or to cast suspicion away from the FBI as gun-tottin', trigger-happy cowboys.

The first passenger I spoke with was Jack Almstad, and he was easy to find since he was speaking to local media from his home in Livermore, California. Jack was charming and generous with his time, and confirmed many details of the skyjacking, such as saying the “sketches in the newspapers look like how I remember the skyjacker.” But he also said he was able to move about the cabin area freely throughout the flight, including using the rear lavatory near where the hijacker was sitting, which is not the story told by the flight attendants. Jack also distinguished himself by telling me that he cracked a joke with DB Cooper and Tina while he waited in the lavatory line.

Passenger Bill Mitchell was interviewed by researchers from the Washington State Historical Museum in 2013, for inclusion in their “COOPER” exhibit, as previously discussed. Later, I spoke with Mitchell as well. Mitchell confirmed that he was 20 years-old at the time of the skyjacking and that he sat in seat 18-B directly across from DB Cooper. As such, he has been considered the best eyewitness to the hijacking outside of Florence and Tina. In fact, Bill stated that he was interviewed by the FBI “two to three times a day” in the period immediately after the hijacking. Mitchell also says that the WSHM exhibit was “100 percent accurate.”

In 2016, I was able contact other surviving members of Flight 305: Michael Cooper, Larry Finegold, and Scott MacPherson. These passengers were able to give me a sharper view of the money exchange. The official story is that after the airstairs docked with Flight 305, Tina Mucklow descended the stairs and returned with the SeaFirst money bag, either dragging or carrying it down the aisle. However, that version is now disputed. I spoke with Scott MacPherson in April 2016, and he was quite clear about this issue.

Scott said his father and he were sitting in Row 2 of First Class, and when the forward door opened a couple of men entered the plane. Scott remembers that these men carried the money bags, either one or two, into the plane. He told me that there was an exchange on board Flight 305 in the forward section, and that Tina did not leave the aircraft and re-enter with the money. However, Scott does not know if the strange men were FBI, FAA, or something else.

"It was pretty obvious what was going on when we saw the SeaFirst bags," he told me. He described them as canvas bags. "We knew then that was why we had been circling Seattle for hours."
In addition, Scott did not get a good look at the hijacker, who was sitting "far in the back."
Scott was not interviewed by the FBI in the terminal, but his father, Bill MacPherson, encountered a TV news reporter and gave him an interview. Further, Bill MacPherson died in 1988, but their employee and another individual on the plane, Paul Weitzel, is still alive. However, I have not been able to make contact with Mr. Weitzel, and Scott hasn't had any contact with him in at least twenty-five years. Similarly, Scott has not talked with any other passengers, either during the debriefing period or in the years following the hijacking.

McPherson's account of the money exchange is remembered similarly by assistant US District Attorney Larry Finegold, who was returning from Portland, Oregon, where he was participating in the preliminary proceedings of the trial of San Francisco mayor, Samuel Alioto. I spoke with Mr. Finegold in April 2016.

Finegold was sitting in Row 6, starboard side. After landing, Flight 305 spent a bit of time sitting on the runway, and Finegold told me that when the main door finally opened, two men entered the plane, with one carrying the bank bag. Quickly, Tina approached the forward part of the plane and retrieved the money bag. A short time later, one of the men walked down the aisle and approached Finegold. He was the aforementioned FBI agent named “John” that Finegold knew from the federal courts, and after a nod of greeting the agent told him that a "skyjacker was on board" and that he would tell him more later. Finegold thinks he was the first passenger to know they had been hijacked.

In addition, Finegold remembers being surprised to learn that there were two "Coopers" on board, Michael and Dan. Plus, he is very aware and concerned about malfeasance within the FBI, and the criminal justice system in general. Finegold and I spoke at length about the Innocence Project, and matters related to the evidentiary problems at the FBI's National Crime Lab. Finegold said he has been interviewed "hundreds of times" on Cooper, and recently turned down an interview request from Oprah Winfrey.

The passengers' freedom of movement, as described by Jack Almstad, is corroborated by Michael Cooper, who said he also used the rear lavatory during the flight. However, Michael said he also had a minor altercation with DB Cooper at that time because Tina stood and asked him to re-take his seat and not use the lav. Michael was miffed and refused. Tina looked at DB Cooper, who nodded his approval, and Tina allowed Michael to proceed to the restroom. After that, Michael assumed that DB Cooper was some kind of Northwest Orient official and traveling on important company business.
Michael Cooper said he was sitting in Row 17, possibly on the port side, and stayed there for the majority of the flight. He said the flight attendants did not move them forward until just before landing. "The Captain got on the intercom and told us to move up as we were coming in to land from the north," he told me.

Unfortunately, Michael is not able to shed any light on who was sitting behind him in Row 18. Bill Mitchell says he was in seat 18-B, with his school books dumped on 18-C and his parka splayed across 18-A. But FBI files say that passenger Robert Gregory was sitting in 18-C, and more confounding, Ralph Himmelsbach said that DB Cooper also sat in seat 18-C. When I described Bill Mitchell to Michael Cooper, though, it didn't “ring any bells."
Michael didn't get a good look at DB Cooper during the hijacking, either, but he says he did observe a strange occurrence in Portland that involved the skyjacker and is in stark contrast to crew statements to the FBI. Michael had gotten on Flight 305 in Missoula, and so was on the plane when they landed in Portland. Apparently, there was some kind of delay with the boarding of the Portland passengers, and Michael said he and Tina Mucklow were standing at the aftstairs when the fellow who was to become known as DB Cooper came across the tarmac and tried to come up the stairs. Tina told him that the flight was not yet ready to accept the new passengers, and she sent him back to the terminal.

Further, Michael says that the FBI never talked to him about the skyjacker or the skyjacking. Yet, he says that they told the media that the hijacker was named "Michael Cooper," even though Michael had shown the FBI his Montana driver’s license and was interviewed by three different FBI agents.
"They have never apologized for the mistaken identity," Michael told me, "and I almost lost my job over it."

Michael's local newspaper, The Missoulian carried a front-page story about the skyjacking and his mistaken role in it. Michael was teaching high school at the time, and he says it took days to sort out the mistaken identity issue with his school board. Besides the FBI goof, Michael contributed to this kerfuffle by having left work early to catch his flight, and had asked a fellow-teacher to cover his afternoon classes. Both teachers failed to get permission from their principal, or even inform him, and when the feds contacted the school officials, their response was predictable. To his credit, Michael accepted his responsibility in the matter, and afterwards used the experience as a teaching tool with his students: “Always tell the truth.”

Although he didn't look at the hijacker closely during the flight, Michael Cooper says that, in general, DB Cooper looked like the FBI sketch in the papers: 5'10”- 6', athletic build, olive complexion, late 40s, short-cropped hair, wearing a white shirt with a black tie pinned with a pearl tie tack, dressed in a dark suit and carried a dark raincoat.

One other aspect of passenger behavior is noteworthy—the drinking. Scott MacPherson remembers the flight attendants "had their hands full" dealing with a drunk passenger sitting a few rows behind him. "That's when they cut-off the alcohol service. They really had a hard time settling him down." Scott does not remember if the drunk passenger was in uniform, or sitting next to a military figure, as reported by the Simmons in Geoffrey Gray's book. A figure “in a cowboy hat” is also identified as being part of the drunken incident, which required a significant – and even a possible physical intervention – by the flight attendants. Troubling, though, the official narrative from the crew, the FBI and NWO never discuss this event. However, a “scuffle” among the passengers is briefly noted in 302-SE-164-81-519.

Karen Truitt, the daughter of passenger Alan B. Truitt, also related a story about alcohol consumption. “My father told me that while they circled Seattle, they poured the booze real heavy, and a lot of drunks got off the plane.”

I had met Karen Truitt at the 2011 Symposium in Portland, and we discussed her father's experiences at length. Alan Truitt was an official with the federal General Services Administration (GSA) and was traveling back from a conference in Missoula with several of his colleagues - Arnold “Andy Andvik, Pat Donahoe, and their boss, Charlie Street, the GSA Regional Administrator. Although unable to shed light on the movement of passengers in the cabin or the money issue, Karen was able to relay a sense of the ambiance aboard Flight 305 that I found helpful. To begin, her father and his colleagues were professionals eager to get home for the holidays. Yet, her father ruminated about the hijacking throughout his life and wanted to process the experience with Tina Mucklow, but never did. Karen said her father had a kind of nagging feeling, possibly wanting to clarify some incidence aboard the aircraft that was secretive in nature. Sadly, Karen Truitt passed away a year after our meeting in Portland.

Another mystery generated by the passengers and still unresolved is the account given to the FBI by Nancy House of a second bag – in addition to the briefcase - held by DB Cooper. House sat in Row 16, and told the feds in her debriefing that DB Cooper displayed a paper or burlap bag, approximately 12x12x4 inches and pink or yellow in color, when he exited the lavatory and the passengers were departing the aircraft. No one else saw this second bag however, as far as can be determined.

Nevertheless, Tina Mucklow told the FBI in Reno that she saw the skyjacker display a “small, green paper bag” while he was securing the money. Where the green bag came from, or its use, is unknown publicly.

However, a closer examination of the passenger list reveals a larger investigatory concern - the flight manifest is incorrect - suggesting one more failure of FBI and NWO case management.
First, “Dan Cooper” is not listed, and one can argue that the airlines didn't want to give any more recognition to the skyjacker than necessary. However, having two men named Cooper aboard Flight 305 is a major investigatory dynamic, and it sorely confused the FBI the night of the skyjacking.
Secondly, the NWO manifest is missing people, or counts them twice. Mrs. Floyd Kloepher and her husband are listed on-board Flight 305, sitting in Row 2 of First Class. But one account has just the husband, another just the wife. Unfortunately, the Kloephers are deceased, apparently, and a grandchild was unable to clarify this issue. But the preponderance of evidence suggests that only the husband was on-board. In fact, in November 2020, the FBI released 302 # 22506-1371 that specifies only “Mr. Kloepher.”

In addition, only two members of the MacPherson family were on 305 and not the three listed on the manifest, i.e.: William MacPherson and his son, Scott MacPherson—and not “S. MacPherson.” Scott MacPherson, then 25, and his father, William, had been traveling to Spokane on business related to their real estate and land development ventures, and both were sitting in First Class. However, there was a third member of the MacPherson party, the aforementioned employee named Paul Weitzel, who is also listed on the manifest as “Mr. Weitzel.”

The aforementioned Cooper Vortex – the emotional swirl that makes smart people do silly things – seems to have engulfed some passengers. Richard and Barbara Simmons claimed to Hollywood TV producers in the 1970s that they had interacted with DB Cooper abroad the flight. However, this occurrence is now viewed with great skepticism since they did not present themselves to the FBI immediately following the skyjacking as passengers having had any notable interaction with the hijacker.

In fact, only five passengers identified themselves as having some kind of contact, either visual or physical, with DB Cooper: Bill Mitchell, Robert Gregory, Nancy House, Cord Harms Spreckel - a paint shop owner - and attorney George Labissoniere. Of these passengers, however, I have been able to speak only with Mitchell.

This is fascinating if true:
I didn't realize there was a possiblity the passengers at PDX had boarded via the aftstairs

you said
"Michael didn't get a good look at DB Cooper during the hijacking, either, but he says he did observe a strange occurrence in Portland that involved the skyjacker and is in stark contrast to crew statements to the FBI. Michael had gotten on Flight 305 in Missoula, and so was on the plane when they landed in Portland. Apparently, there was some kind of delay with the boarding of the Portland passengers, and Michael said he and Tina Mucklow were standing at the aftstairs when the fellow who was to become known as DB Cooper came across the tarmac and tried to come up the stairs. Tina told him that the flight was not yet ready to accept the new passengers, and she sent him back to the terminal"

is there any other confirmation of how the PDX passengers boarded? There was no set of stairs wheeled out to the plane?

But in seattle, the aftstairs were not used? I forget.