Update your 2nd Edition Copy!
I'm working on the 3rd Edition, and here is a big chunk of new stuff. Since we're all friends, I'm sharing:
The Hijacked, Chapter 7
The Passengers
Most investigators and authors have chosen to protect the privacy of the passengers of Flight 305 unless they individually choose 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 have reversed my position and intensified my 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 everyone 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' indicative of a lack of truthfulness, or is it merely a minor record-keeping problem? Perhaps, but it might also be 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.
The first passenger I spoke with was Jack Almstad, 76, 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, 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 we waited in the lavatory line.
Shortly after interviewing Jack, I met the daughter of passenger Alan B. Truitt. Karen Truitt attended the 2011 Symposium in Portland and 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.
As stated previously, Flight 305 passenger Bill Mitchell was interviewed by researchers from the Washington State Historical Museum in 2013, for inclusion in their “COOPER” exhibit. 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.” Over time, I was able to contact Bill directly and found him to be a charming and funny guy, and my interview with him follows this chapter.
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 on 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 by several passengers. 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 that a couple of men had entered the plane when the forward door opened. He remembers at least two men entering the aircraft and brought the money bags, either one or two, into the plane. He told me that there was an exchange on board Flight 305, 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 Seattle First (sic) 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. Additionally, Bill MacPherson died in 1988, and their employee, Paul Weitzel is still alive. However, Scott hasn't had any contact with him in at least 25 years. Surprisingly, 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 prosecutor Larry Finegold, who was returning from Portland, Oregon, where he was witnessing preliminary proceedings in the trial of San Francisco mayor, Samuel Alioto. I spoke with Mr. Finegold in April 2016.
Finegold says he was sitting in the main cabin, Row 6, starboard side. After a bit of time sitting on the runway, the main door opened up and Finegold saw two men enter the plane, with one carrying the bank bag. Tina approached the forward part of the plane and retrieved the money bag. But one of the men walked down the aisle and approached Finegold. He was an FBI agent named “John” that Finegold knew from federal court, 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 later that there were two "Coopers" on board, Michael and Dan. He is also very aware and concerned about the malfeasance within the FBI and the criminal justice system. We 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 "100s of times," and recently turned down an interview request from Oprah.
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 an approval, and Tina allowed Michael to proceed to the restroom. After that, Michel 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 on the port side, and stayed there for the majority of the flight. He said that 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 says that DB Cooper sat in seat 18-C, as well. When I described Bill Mitchell to Michael, 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. 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 initiating the boarding of the Portland passengers, and Michael said he and Tina Mucklow were standing at the aft stairs 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.
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," even though Michael showed the FBI his Montana drivers 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."
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 says it took two days to sort out the mistaken identity issue with his employers.
Although he didn't glimpse the hijacker clearly during the flight, Michael Cooper says DB Cooper looked like the FBI sketch in the papers: 5'10”- 6 foot, athletic build, olive complexion, late 40s, short-cropped hair, with a pearl tie tack and black tie, dressed in dark suit and 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.
But Karen Truitt also related a story about alcohol consumption. “My father had told me that while they circled Seattle they poured the booze real heavy, and a lot of drunks got off the plane.”
One mystery generated by the passengers and still unresolved is the account by Nancy House of a separate bag held by DB Cooper. House sat in Row 16, and told the FBI 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 it however, as far as can be determined.
However, a closer examination of the passengers reveals a larger investigatory concern, most notably the fact that the official documentation on the flight is incorrect, suggesting yet one more failure of supervision.
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 sorely confused the FBI the night of the skyjacking.
Secondly, the manifest is missing people. Mrs. Floyd Kloepher and her husband are both believed to have been on-board Flight 305, sitting in Row 2 of First Class, not just one or the other, depending on whether one views the NWO manifest or the Seattle Times passenger list as presented at the 2011 Symposium.
Thirdly, only two members of the MacPherson family were on board, Scott MacPherson, 24, and his father, William. They were traveling to Spokane on business related to their real estate and land development ventures, and both were sitting in First Class, across from the Kloephers. However, there was a third member of the MacPherson party, an employee named Paul Weitzel, presumably listed on the manifest as “Mr Weiztel.” Unfortunately, I have not been able to contact either Mr. Weiztel or the Kloephers.
Additionally, the 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 having had any notable view or interaction with the hijacker.
In fact, only five passengers identified themselves as having some kind of contact with DB Cooper: Bill Mitchel; Robert Gregory; Nancy House; Cord Harms Zem-Spreckel, a paint shop owner; and attorney George Labissoniere. However, of these passengers I have been able to speak only with Mitchell.
