Still Missing: Rethinking the D.B. Cooper Case and other Mysterious Unsolved Disappearances by Richardson Ross

Author:Richardson, Ross [Richardson, Ross]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Terra Mysteria Media
Published: 2014-04-27T21:00:00+00:00

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, a Boeing 727, left its point of origin, Washington, DC early that Wednesday morning. It made stops in Minnesota, Montana and Washington. It landed in Portland to pick up a few more passengers before heading to its last stop of the day, Seattle, Washington.

With his boarding pass in hand, the man in a dark suit with a skinny black tie walked through the concourse towards gate 52, unimpeded by the non existent X-ray machines, lines of anxious passengers, and TSA pat-downs that inconvenience today’s travelers. Flight 305’s departure time was scheduled for 2:50 p.m.

Cooper was one of the last passengers to board the Boeing 727. Passengers on this flight were not assigned their seats; they simply chose the seat they wanted when they were aboard. Smoking was allowed on the flight also and there weren’t “Smoking” and “Non-smoking” sections, passengers could smoke anywhere on the plane. Most passengers chose to sit towards the front of the plane on this flight. Clad in a light raincoat and carrying his black briefcase, he ascended the aircraft’s rear stairs and selected one of the seats in the very back row of the airplane, seat 18C, on the right side of the aircraft. He sat in the middle seat, leaving an empty seat to his left and to his right. This will make sense in the end. All the jetliner’s seats face forward and the last row of seats are the only seats you can watch all the other passengers on the plane without having to turn your head or body. After all, no one can sneak up on you from behind if they are in front of you.

The three stewardesses were busy getting everybody to their seat, taking drink orders and making sure their passengers were buckled in their seats. The flight looked to be an easy affair for them, with only about a dozen passengers per stewardess, instead of the 30 plus they would encounter on full flights. In the coach section, Tina Mucklow, age 22, and Florence Schaffner, age 23, were the stewardesses, while the stewardess in First Class was Alice Hancock.

Flo, as coworkers and friends sometimes called Florence, asked the quiet passenger in seat 18C if he would like anything to drink. Cooper ordered a drink, a bourbon and 7Up. The drink was a dollar, but all Cooper had was a twenty-dollar bill. Flo told him he would have to wait for change.

Cooper lit up a cigarette and tried to relax.

The 727, only about one-third full, took off just a few minutes after its scheduled departure time. Around 3:00 p.m., the plane taxied toward the runway to line up for take-off. With all the passengers buckled in, many with drinks in hand, Flo headed to the rear of the aircraft to take her seat. On the 727, there were two folding jump-seats the stewardesses would sit in during take-offs and landings. The captain’s voice was heard over the intercom preparing everyone for takeoff.

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