◆ SpookStack

money and chutes.""}- Mpa AEN Se aS =, COOPER: | watched, waited, and smoked. Oh, andl “prayed to-high heaven they didn’t call my bluff. AUT. ° ,could have done was give them @ shave., Seems like, - ~ smoked, couple packs of Ralcighs too., . rer “JE the: FBI was going to make'a move'it-would have ..; eaTac. Everybody bur the stew with me and 5 e.three-man ‘crew was; clear of the aircraft. R -the captain what the hell was the “AG cre having trouble with the vapor es ; ‘and ichat another-truck was coming. I said, “OK, ace but remember, one truck at a time.” Eventually five i erucks ‘came’ out, but only: three of them were able to : awfully close to blowing <° ee deliver. At this juncture,1 came cool. I went forward 'to the cockpit. _ANON: You were in the cockpit? - . gis COOPER; Affirmative. In point of fact, T was there °° 5. eetwice while ‘the ship was on the ground, both times -; flashing my “bomb”, of course. |. - a ANON; Do you recall what you told the captain? ~~ COOPER: The last time, Ido. 1 said, “It’s takeoff." ”'s! gime. Take me to Mexico.” ‘ . vs ANON: i oe re fa What was the Captain’s reaction? COOPER: About the same as if Lhad said, “Take me to Katmandu”. He looked at me as if 1 were totally insane. He said-he could try, Medford, Red Bluff oc Reno, all on Vector 23. My response was negative. He “then suggested San Francisco; 1 told him no, very . ; 2 emphatically. I said, “I want the-flaps at 15 per cent arid + <'the gear down, * when you take off.” He gave me a negative on the stairs.» .” “5° He said, not too gently as I recall, “God damnit, I can't ”sotate for departure-lift the nose and rotate-with those i.’ stairs down." He also told me that he couldn’t make Mexico with the flaps and gear down, but that he would ” compute the fuel consumption and shoot for Reno. | was glad he got my idea all by himself. { told him _| affirmative, to head south. Then 1 slammed the cockpit ‘** door and went back to the tourist compartment with the - stew. According to my watch, we got airborne at 7:40 p.m., four hours and 42 minutes since leaving Portland. Like I said, I have & very good watch. . ; ANON: Speaking of Portland...Shortly after takeoff * “you handed your” skyjack note to one of the “| stewardesses... ; ; COUPER: Yes. The brunette, and she thought | was . trying to proposition her...In a way. she was right. -<. | ANON: You were very careful : ‘ ote, about not leaving jt—or anything cise behind as. “1 * gyidence. Could you tell us what the note.said? " COOPER: Word for word, It said, os - - ANON: It sounds like a Jerry Lewis jt should be “wt. ANON: There was another passenger OD Flight 308 ~., You can look it up if you like. "t fisted. “: parachutes that were delivered to you aboard the jet. . . ° Were they to your liking?” “> , COOPER: Negative, Somebody was playing games 1 also want the ventral staircase down . ot about retricving that _ “Tam “hijacking : os catize tl 1 was going to go dingy.” movie. Have you‘: : do it, heard that song about you?” | _ COOPER: Yes. And J still hear ‘it number one on the shit parade. It stinks... ‘ _/ ANON: D.B. Cooper...Js that your realname?: | COOPER: Of course not! in my sleep, I think 4 inspiration or what? ©’; in a Scattle phone book. ‘There is 4 D.B. _ named Cooper. Was that your COOPER: I stuck a pin a ANON: We'd like to know something about the a there. The backpack’ harness did not have the necessary D-rings for attaching the chestpacks. They were some". sort of emergency rigs for acrobatic flyjng, | guess. So 1 _ just said to hell with it, I'd have to jump without al” ANON: Everyone assumed you asked for two a parachutes so they wouldn’t give you one with a note’ ” that said crime doesn’t pay in it, not knowing whether |. ‘you were going ta force somebody, like the stewardess maybe, to bail out. with you. What did you do with the’. extra parachute? ~ . COOPER: I made a special point of hot leaving it” behind in the cabin. f cut it up into strips and used the" strips to tie the monty bag to my waist, very securely. Next question. , . ANON; You've told us something about the jump, . about working the escape door and plunging out into the darkness. How did you bail out without tipping off ‘the crew? , ‘ : COOPER: ’ tte (tape garbled briefly here.) ; ae and ordered the" 1 checked it: «took the stewardess’ forward, . captain to” lock the door from the inside. out, It was locked. ! returned -gnd: tourist compartment curtains securely behind’ me. *, ct. Te fe en chat if I didn’e hurry up's. ple ‘AS land jn San Franciscor, thought he was in my-corner, It ‘didn't-take muc "to piss me. 4 told him'to knock it off, that his mo ; : was beginning to bug me and that if I got j Cooper #4 bomb was. i ae : ander any circumstances, is to atte " further contact with me. Is that understo 7° aft, closing the first-class, . hae a eamnlere sirnlane a things : like too bugasd liable to: go. “Ibe back in fis 4 . hear me, this is your skyjacker speaking. abot attempt ta: make, an The understood. _ a “ANON: It was at that time that youleaped clear wit the $200,000? , Le COOPER: Well, sometime after that. i 7 a -s . £ ee: ‘Now 2 a One final thing, Mr. Cooper. You've ¢ you've been first That’s awkward .b ‘ ’ ANON: $200,000, a national reputation, something you've wanted to do. you know what I mean...what now?. " COOPER: I'm going to retire. Tonight, {am for parts unknown. ANON: You aren’t going to fly, are you? . COOPER: What do you think? ped “ANON: Don't know, to tell the truth. Poe . COOPER: Good. Loose lips sink ships. I’ve let ‘m flap far too freely. It's very hard to keep'a story | she I leavi