Passengers
Perhaps this particular section might be the best place to put information on the passengers. I've begun to dig into this subject due to a variety of reasons.
First, I had backed off from the passengers because other researchers, especially Sluggo, had indicated that the privacy of the passengers was a significant concern. So, I followed suit. Further, my interests lay elsewhere, such as with the flight crew and the FBI. But now, I think it is time to focus more keenly on the passengers.
The passengers have a unique story to tell, plus their input could have significant evidentiary importance.
To begin, we have a huge problem with who sat in Row 18. I just spoke with Michael Cooper, and he too, claims he sat across the aisle from DB Cooper. That makes three passengers sitting in Row 18, port side: M. Cooper, Bill Mitchell, and Robert Gregory, the latter according to FBI documents.
Michael says that another fellow sat in front of him, presumably Row 17, but he doesn't remember who or what he looked like. When I described Bill Mitchell, it didn't "ring any bells" for Michael.
Further, Michael says that he and the passengers stayed sitting in their original seats until just before they landed at Sea-Tac. "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.
Also, Michael described the boarding as unusual. He 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 initiating the boarding of the Portland passengers, and Michael and Tina Mucklow were standing at the aft stairs when the fellow 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.
Oddly, 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."
"They have never apologized for the mistaken identity," Michael told me, "and I almost lost my job over it."
Apparently, Michael's local newspaper in Missoula, Montana, "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 two days to sort out the mistaken identity issue with his employers.
Michael also says that he had a minor interaction with DB Cooper. Michael says that he rose to use the rear lavatory during the flight, and Tina stood and asked him to re-take his seat. Michael was miffed and refused. Tina looked at DB Cooper, who nodded an approval, and Tina allowed Michael to proceed to the lav. After that, Michel assumed that DB Cooper was some kind of Northwest Orient official and traveling on important company business.
Similarly, Michael never knew or suspected that he was being hijacked. In fact, he told me that he didn't know that he had been hijacked until he was at his sister's house and saw the news on TV. I find that incredulous.
I tried to clarify with Michael exactly what his awareness was of his in-flight experiences. Our conversation was somewhat circular. Michael did confirm that the FBI did perform a role-call on the bus and asked for a "Cooper D." No one answered, and after a pause Michael spoke and said that he was "Michael Cooper." However, that did not seem to trigger any kind of awareness to Michael.
Surprisingly, Michael was not interrogated by the FBI afterwards, and was not part of the "Magic Five," as notated by Sluggo: those five passengers who self-identified themselves to the FBI when they got into the Seattle terminal as having seen or interacted with the hijacker: Bill Mitchel, Robert Gregory, Georger Labissioniere, Cord Harms Zem-Spreckel, and Nancy House.
Hence, Michael Cooper did not present himself as an eye-witness to the FBI even though he is now saying that he sat next to the hijacker and saw DB Cooper try to get on the plane initially.
Along those lines, Sluggo also indicated to me that the pronouncements of Richard and Barbara Simons are highly suspect since neither one of them presented themselves to the FBI in Sea-Tac, even though they later told "In Search Of..." that they had extensive interactions with the skyjacker.
Similarly, I find it strange that the FBI would not single out Michael Cooper for special questioning, especially when they had enough internal confusion about who-was-whom and told at least "The Missoulian" that Michael Cooper was the hijacker.
Basically, this whole Michael Cooper business is One Big Cooper Kerfuffle.
Simply, it's Business as Usual in Cooper World.
Sigh. It's definitely time to talk with Alice Hancock...I guess I've got to send her a copy of my book and break the ice a little with her....after all, she told the feds that nobody got closer to Coop than Row 14.
Poll