Everything known about DB Cooper as siblings claim dad could be mysterious criminal following ‘one-in-a-billion’ find

Here's everything known about the mysterious case of DB Cooper, after the latest rare find in the search for the mystery aeroplane hijacker has been revealed.

It's been over 50 years since the bizarre event took place on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, and the situation has come back under media scrutiny after some new evidence surfaced.

Yet, authorities, including the FBI, still aren't sure of the man's identity.

But there looks to be a breakthrough on the cold case, according to YouTuber and investigator Dan Gryder.

He claimed that he got hold of the parachute that Cooper used to escape from the Boeing 727, as even an in-depth Netflix documentary about the case couldn't shed a definitive light on his identity.

The YouTuber thinks he has found some new evidence (YouTube/Dan Gryder)

What did DB Cooper do?

Back on 24 November 1971, a man that identified himself as Dan Cooper bought a ticket in cash from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington in the USA.

While in the air, he told a flight attendant that he was carrying a bomb, demanding $200,000 in cash (worth £1 million today) and four parachutes.

After receiving this and allowing passengers to disembark in Seattle, he ordered staff to get him back in the air, where he parachuted out in the night in the southwestern Washington region.

Fresh DB Cooper suspect claims

The only piece of evidence left behind was a black JCPenney clip-on tie, which was taken off before he jumped, giving authorities a DNA sample.

But now, Gryder claims that the children of one of the main suspects gave him DB Cooper's parachute, as siblings Chanté and Richard III 'Rick' McCoy claim that their late father, Richard Floyd McCoy II, was DB Cooper.

A 'serious suspect' according to the FBI, he also carried out a hijacking in April 1972, pulling out a weapon and ordering airline staff to secure him four parachutes and $500,000 (£396,738) on a flight in Denver, Colorado, before being killed by FBI agents in a shootout.

The siblings are convinced that he was Cooper, as they handed over the parachute to the FBI, though there have been no updates since.

DB Cooper has not knowingly been seen since 24 November, 1971 (FBI)

How did DB Cooper carry out the hijacking?

So, here's everything we know about the suspect.

Cooper's plane ticket said that his first name was Dan, and he held everyone ransom after the flight took off and made its way to Washington.

Cooper ordered a bourbon and 7Up, eventually making his move when he passed flight attendant Florence Shaffner a note that said 'Miss - I have a bomb and I want you to sit by me'.

Initially putting it in her pocket, he whispered in her ear: “Miss, you better look at that note. I have a bomb.”

Seeing what she believed was a bomb, she made her way to the cockpit to pass the man's demand on for a lump sum in cash.

A flight attendant's brave actions

As Shaffner stayed in the cockpit, another attendant, Tina Mucklow, calmly spoke to the hijacker while sitting next to him, despite angering him when asking where he was from.

Captain of flight 305, William A Scott, communicated Cooper's ransom demands to Northwest Flight operations, stating: "(Cooper) requests $200,000 in a knapsack by 5:00pm.

“He wants two front parachutes, two back parachutes.

“He wants the money in negotiable American currency."

The flight attendant then asked him why he targeted this flight, to which he grossly joked: "It's not because I have a grudge against your airlines, it's just because I have a grudge."

Landing at Sea-Tac Airport, Northwest's Seattle operations manager, Al Lee passed the money over, after which Cooper let passengers leave the plane.

Mucklow joked about giving her some money as he inspected it, though she refused when he seriously offered it to her.

One of the parachutes requested by Cooper that was not used (FBI)

Second flight and getaway

He then asked flight attendant Alice Hancock and Shaffner to leave, requesting that Tina, Captain Scott, First Officer William J. Rataczak and Flight Engineer Harold E. Anderson stay onboard.

They then made their way to Mexico City, when he asked the crew to leave the cabin unpressurised, telling them to lower the lower the aft staircase.

Mucklow was the last known person to see him alive, asking him not to lower the staircase, though she was made to go to the cockpit, seeing a warning light appear, indicating that it had been lowered.

He then presumably jumped out with his parachute, as the plane landed safely at 11pm at Reno–Tahoe International Airport, with the crew unharmed and onboard.