How would they know the flightpath (V23). Was it broadcast? Could they have heard the radio transmissions to track the 727 take off time, flightpath and position? Could they sufficiently track the plane?
Nobody else managed to track that plane successfully - weren't there a few amateurs who got called into service when the military jets lost track, or am I mis-remembering? If the latter is true, I don't think any accomplice would have been more successful. I'm still up in the air with accomplices, but even more so with radios, just because he was already carrying so much stuff, and he had to have one hand free to pull the cord. I think he had to have tossed some stuff before, stuff people wouldn't necessarily notice in the woods, like the battery, but like most else, that's just conjecture.
Side note: One thing I noticed while reading GG's book - maybe it's just the printing I have - in the map at the front of the book, the plane is pointed the wrong way. The V-23 Portland - Seattle route is shown - but the map shows the plane like it's heading from Portland to Seattle while also pointing out the jump zone, which was when it was flying
away from Seattle. I kept staring at it in befuddlement until I clued in. Maybe that's standard on maps showing plane routes? Very confusing, anyway.
Also - was the placard inside or outside V-23? I'm sure it's been covered somewhere before, but I can't remember. Something that small could get carried many miles from where it fell off before getting near the ground, but does anyone more mathematically inclined have any clue approximately where the plane might have been when the placard fell? Is it reasonable to assume it was around the time he was trying to get the stairs down - likely as they descended? Sorry to be rehashing what I'm sure is old ground for some.
