On Thanksgiving Eve in 1971, a polite man in a dark suit boarded a plane in Portland, ordered a bourbon and soda, and handed the flight attendant a note that launched one of the greatest mysteries in American history. In this episode, we investigate the legend of "Dan Cooper," the unidentified hijacker who seized Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 by claiming he had a bomb in his briefcase. We recount the tense hours during which Cooper successfully demanded $200,000 in negotiable currency and four parachutes, eventually releasing the passengers in Seattle in exchange for the ransom.

We detail the dramatic second leg of the flight, where Cooper ordered the crew to fly low toward Mexico City before lowering the Boeing 727’s rear airstair and parachuting into the freezing night over the Washington wilderness. Despite an extensive 45-year FB ...