• ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
      6·
      10 天前

      To quote Edward Fox’s character in The Day of the Jackal… it can be done with enough time and planning… the problem is getting away with it.

  • Canopyflyer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    27·
    10 天前

    DB Cooper has been the topic of Drop Zone conversations for years. The jump he made is perfectly doable by anyone trained in the practical application of aerodynamic decelerators. Albeit it was an extremely risky jump as I’ll detail below.

    As a matter of fact I’ve gone out the air stairs of a 727. It was at the 1999 at the World Freefall Convention in Quincy, IL. It was fun, but a 727 on jump run is doing about 180kias when normal skydiving operations are around 90kias. It won’t injure you, but it feels like you’re getting hit by a ton of bricks. So not the funnest jump and I only did one, to say I did it. Going out the bomb bay of a B-17 (Nine-O-Nines RIP) was a lot more fun.

    The general consensus in the skydiving community is that Cooper lived, but was probably injured. He jumped a round parachute, at night, in poor weather conditions. Even with modern gear that kind jump is extremely risky. Round parachutes go down where the wind blows them after exit. There is a little bit of control with a round, but nothing like a ram air chute.

    He probably had a vehicle stashed close to the drop zone and was able to get to it with most of the money. If I recall correctly some of the money was discovered on a creek or riverbank some time later. He probably lived the rest of his life in secure obscurity… Or he might even still be alive.

    Only he knows for sure.

    • Ifera@lemmy.world
      47·
      10 天前

      I always had issues with that phrase. The first thing I would do is go to the hospital, since that is a sign of a massive hernia. Also, cajones means drawers or boxes, the word you’re looking for is cojones.

      When using aphorisms, please try and Google them.

      A pet peeve of mine is gratuitous and incorrect use of my native languages.

      • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
        74·
        10 天前

        When using aphorisms, please try and Google them.

        Cajones has been a slang term for “balls” or “bravery” or “having the guts” for over a hundred years. So not only are you being a pedantic prick, you are also a wrong pedantic prick. If you are going to be a pedantic prick, you should be the one to google if you are even right first. I grew up in a Spanish/ English speaking community, this is the word we used (although we used huevos too, but that literally meant like, your balls; less “having the balls”, or having courage to stand up to someone). It should occur to you that you don’t have a monopoly over the use of language, so maybe check that.

        • Ifera@lemmy.world
          23·
          10 天前

          Would you kindly read the article you linked? It literally says the entry is for COJONES, not CAJONES.

          This is just like some Americans getting upset and doubling down when people point out that Colombia is the name of a country, and it is not spelled Columbia(Unlike the several places called Columbia in their country).

          Edited to add the screenshot.

  • rindo25@lemmy.world
    144·
    10 天前

    It was obviously Tommy Wiseau, how else did he get the money to make his hit movie The Room.

  • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
    91·
    10 天前

    The leading theory is he was a CIA operative, because jumping from the rear stairs like that was something they did in the field.

    And the leading theory was he survived, because there was a copycat crime, which worked until the guy was caught on the ground, with the cash.

    It just gets crazier the deeper you go.

    • Frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      16·
      10 天前

      The weather was terrible for a jump. Nobody who had training would have tried it.

      He almost certainly died in the jump.

      He also made an offhand comment about the airline, and that suggests a revenge motive.

      • JcbAzPx@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        10 天前

        If he died in the jump they would have eventually found a body. At the very least he survived long enough to vacate the area.

        • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
          182·
          9 天前

          Some of those areas are really remote. He could have easily died, and his body was then torn apart and scattered by scavengers before anyone could find it.

          People frequently get lost in remote areas, die, and never have their bodies found. All that has to happen is that the animals get to the body before search parties do.

          Or he could have simply landed in a stream or river, and his body was devoured by fish as it tumbled its way into the sea.

          There are plenty of ways for nature to destroy a corpse.

      • rhombus@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        9 天前

        He was asked why that airline and he specifically said it wasn’t to do with the airline, just that that particular flight suited his needs. He did say “it’s just because I have a grudge”, but he didn’t say what it was.

        I also agree he died, mostly because they never found the money in circulation. None of the serial numbers they gave him were ever identified. So it seems he either never spent a cent of it, or he didn’t survive the jump.

  • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
    25·
    10 天前

    And how they also fucked up the investigation by future proofing it for him. Dan Cooper (that’s what he wrote his name as) smoked several cigarettes and kept the butts on the plane, and he had several drinks and… they just threw away the stir sticks he used and also the cigarette butts, hence foiling any attempts to get dna down the line.

    Some cases from the 70s and even 60s were solved because some DNA survived on evidence collected. But that was impossible for this case since none were saved.

  • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone
    2·
    9 天前

    Maybe it was just some Kendal Roy type rich boy fucking around and his dad got the authorities to bury it, hence the absolutely nonsensical chain of evidence.