WEBVTT - Season 07 Episode 22: Jumping into Legend (Pt.1 of 2) 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:12.559 On the afternoon of November twenty fourth, nineteen seventy one, 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:18.159 Portland International Airport was a hive of frantic activity. It 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:21.680 was the day before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:25.959 days of the year in the US. Departures swarmed with 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:30.040 people traveling to see their families for the holiday. Amid 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.680 that chaos, stood in line at the ticket desk was 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:37.559 a tall man in a dark suit and raincoat, wearing 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:42.839 sunglasses and carrying a briefcase. When he finally got to 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.720 the front of the line, the man asked for a 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:49.920 one way ticket to Seattle. The man was in luck 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:52.760 there was a seat on board a flight going that 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:57.320 very afternoon. The man handed over the twenty dollars for 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:01.080 the ticket, then breezily strolled from the desk to his 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:07.760 departure gate. Later, on board Northwest orient Airlines flight three 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.200 O five to Seattle, the man squeezed through to the 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:14.920 back of the Boeing seven two seven. He settled into 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.679 an aisle seat in row eighteen, placed his briefcase on 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:22.880 the seat beside him, and lit a cigarette. At four 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.800 thirty five p m. The plane took off from the 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:32.160 rumway and eased up into the steadily darkening sky. When 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.720 the plane leveled out, twenty three year old flight attendant 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:39.560 Florence Shaffner began making her way down the aisle with 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:43.319 the drink's cart. She'd clocked the man at the back 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:46.800 early on, thinking it a little odd that he hadn't 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.920 removed his sunglasses. When she finally got down to him, 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:55.920 he asked politely for a bourbon and soda. Despite her 0:01:55.960 --> 0:02:00.680 young age, Florence was an experienced flight attendant. She'd been 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.960 doing the job long enough that not much phazed her, 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:09.440 especially when it came to attention from male passengers. Sex 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:14.240 appeal was, after all, part of the job description for stewardesses, 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.960 as they used to be known. In addition to staying young, slim, 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:23.600 and single, attendants were expected to appear available and interest 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.399 it to flatter the egos of male passengers who made 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.760 passes at them. For Florence, it was by and large 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:35.680 one of the worst parts of the job, so when 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:40.160 soon after serving him the drink, the smartly dressed man 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.040 handed her a note, it was all she could do 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.680 to not roll her eyes in front of him. What 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:50.040 would it be this time? She thought a phone number, 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:55.600 a marriage proposal, perhaps, Florence forced a smile and took 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:59.280 the note, but made sure not to open it, better 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.079 not to put them both in the awkward position of 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.480 her having to respond to it there and then. But 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:10.560 when she turned to walk away, the man spoke, miss 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:16.000 He said, with an unnervingly insistent tone, you'd better take 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:20.239 a look at that note. Florence paused for a moment, 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:25.320 then grudgingly opened it. The words were written in neat, 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:29.080 elegant capitals, and yet they seemed to be swimming in 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:33.160 front of her eyes. Her mind couldn't quite process them. 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:38.000 I have a bomb in my briefcase, they read. I 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.560 would use it if necessary. I want you to sit 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:47.600 next to me. You are being hijacked. You're listening to unexplained, 0:03:48.240 --> 0:04:00.320 and I'm Richard McLean Smith. Florence felt unsteady on her feet. 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.800 The world around her seemed hazy and far away, and 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.200 so did the figure of the man in front of her. 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:11.560 She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, hoping that 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:15.040 when she opened them she'd find herself safe at home 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:20.320 in bed. She'd had nightmares before about being confronted by 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:25.039 a hijacker, and not unreasonably, America was in the midst 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.480 of a period now referred to as the Golden Age 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:32.480 of hijacking, and cases had been rising steadily over the 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:36.599 past three years, but she never really believed it would 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:41.159 happen to her. When Florence opened her eyes again, the 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:45.320 man was still there, looking expectantly at her, with one 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:50.799 hand on his briefcase, his eyes inscrutable behind the sunglasses. 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:54.799 I want you to sit next to me, he said, 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:59.640 echoing the words in his note. Though every instinct was 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:03.480 telling he her to run and scream, Florence forced her 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.200 legs to move and eased herself into the seat beside him. 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.600 Once she was sat down, she couldn't take her eyes 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:17.280 off the briefcase. Almost without thinking, she found herself asking 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:21.440 the man if she could see the bomb. The man 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:25.320 opened the briefcase and turned it to show her the inside. 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:30.039 Florence felt a surge of adrenaline when she caught sight 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:34.479 of the tangled mass of wires and cylinders, all connected 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:39.880 to a large central battery. Time seemed to slow down. 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:46.080 She imagined the bomb detonating, flames, consuming the entire plane 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:51.760 in seconds, its charred scraps falling to earth. She thought 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:55.560 of her parents in Arkansas, hearing about it all on 0:05:55.640 --> 0:06:00.080 the evening news, and for the first time in her life, 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:05.799 she thought about dying. Just then, another flight attendant, twenty 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:09.560 two year old Tina Mucklow, came heading toward them down 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:13.880 the aisle. Florence could only imagine what she thought at 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.760 the sight of her sitting down with a passenger like this. 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:21.479 It was almost a relief when Tina finally reached them 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:25.680 and Florence was able to hand her the note. As 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.960 Tina read it, Florence could visibly see the blood drain 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:35.000 from her face. Then the man showed her the bomb too, 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:38.520 taking care to point out just how it worked and 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:43.400 where the detonator switch was. He spoke calmly and politely, 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:48.240 keeping his voice low. The flight wasn't full, and they 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:51.080 were at the back of the plane. No one else 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:55.240 on board had any idea what was going on. The 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:59.160 man then told Tina to inform the pilots that the 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:03.480 plane was being hijacked and to deliver a precise set 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:09.560 of instructions after detailing them. Tina nodded silently in response. 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.240 She was just about to head off when the man 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:18.000 added one more thing, Oh, he said, and no funny 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:31.800 business or I'll do the job. Tina picked up the 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:36.400 intercom and called the cockpit on an emergency signal. She 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.640 told the pilots that the plane was being hijacked, then 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:44.040 relayed the man's instructions. They were a little strange under 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:48.280 the circumstances. Instead of re routing the plane to Cuba, 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:52.600 as many politically motivated hijackers did at the time, the 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.239 man wanted them to stick to their predetermined flight path, 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:00.560 but when they reached Seattle, he wanted three things waiting 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:04.120 for him on the ground. A fuel truck ready to 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:09.600 refuel the plane, four parachutes, and two hundred thousand US 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:13.560 dollars in cash, roughly one and a half million into 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:17.480 day's money. So long as his demands were met, he 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:22.000 said he would let all of the passengers go. Pilot 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:25.880 Captain Scott radioed air traffic control on the ground in 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:30.280 Washington and explained what was going on. He requested the 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:32.760 plane be put in a holding pattern to give the 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:37.440 authorities time to respond. Scott was directed to fly in 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:42.840 circles over Puget Sound, a vast estuary which connects Sattle 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:46.960 to the Pacific Ocean. Tina knew there was only one 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:51.160 reason why they would do this, ground control wanted them 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:56.520 over water in case the plane exploded. Meanwhile, back in 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:00.760 row eighteen, the man in the suit and sunglasses ordered 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:05.440 another drink from Florence. He seemed in good spirits, paying 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.480 for his two dollar bourbon and soda with a twenty 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:13.240 dollar bill and insisting that Florence keep the change almost 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:17.320 one hundred and thirty dollars by today's standards. Not that 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:21.040 Florence took any heed of that. She was too busy 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:24.440 watching the man's every move as he leant back into 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:29.280 his seat, one hand holding his drink, the other resting 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:33.920 on his rigged briefcase. With little else to do, she 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:38.240 and Tina focused on damage control. They had no way 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.400 of knowing how destructive the man's bomb would be, so 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.440 they resolved to try and put as much space between 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:49.319 it and the passengers as possible to avoid causing alarm. 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.840 They told passengers that there was a minor mechanical fault 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:56.360 with the plane and asked everybody to move forwards into 0:09:56.440 --> 0:10:00.640 first class. But as the passengers began moving moving around 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:05.440 the cabin, the man in the sunglasses became agitated. He 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:09.040 demanded to know what was happening, What was taking so 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.600 long and why the plane was in a holding pattern. 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:16.640 The twenty two year old Tina did her best to 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:20.200 keep him calm as she explained it was going to 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:23.400 take time for the ground staff to have everything he 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:27.960 wanted ready before they landed. If anything, they were just 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:31.800 doing what he'd asked. In the meantime, she'd give him 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:36.120 any information he wanted to know when she had it. Thankfully, 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:41.080 it seemed to work. Sadly for Tina, it worked too well. 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.320 The man demanded she stay by his side for the 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:49.360 rest of the flight. To keep him company. Over the 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:53.120 next hour or so, Tina told him about her childhood 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.800 in rural Pennsylvania and about her current hometown of Minneapolis. 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:03.240 In Minnesota. Seemed genuinely interested, but when she asked him 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:07.280 the same question in return, he clammed up and refused 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:11.720 to answer. She asked him why he'd picked Northwest Orient 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.480 Airlines as his target. Did he have a grudge against them, 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:20.280 she wondered. The man seemed amused by this. I don't 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:23.680 have a grudge against your airline, he said, I just 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:33.880 have a grudge. One upside to the golden age of 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:38.120 hijacking was that most major airports had a solid plan 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.640 in place for when it happened. As soon as Captain 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.240 Scott alerted air traffic control to what was going on, 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.439 a vast chain of people on the ground sprung into action. 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:55.120 Local police and the FBI were informed within moments, and 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:59.000 an urgent call was placed to Donald Nyroup, the president 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:05.400 of Northwest Orrient Airlines. Without hesitating, Nyrop authorized payment of 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:09.400 the ransom. Two hundred thousand dollars was a lot of money, 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:12.520 but it was nothing compared to the consequences of that 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:17.200 bomb being detonated. Loss of life aside, the value of 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:21.120 the company was unlikely to ever recover should anything like 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:25.440 that occur on board. Further to the request of the money, 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:30.319 the hijacker had some very specific demands. He wanted ten 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:35.800 thousand unmarked twenty dollar bills with non sequential serial numbers. 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.080 This way, it would be harder to trace the money 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.560 when he spent it unknown to him. However, when the 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:46.400 money was duly delivered from a local branch of Seattle 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:51.320 First National Bank, the FBI took microfilm photographs of the 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:56.640 bills so that they'd have a record of each serial number. Surprisingly, 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:00.600 getting hold of the four parachutes on such short notice, 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.360 was more of a problem than the cash. An Air 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.640 Force base close to the airport offered to provide them, 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:11.359 but the man was adamant that they be civilian parachutes 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:15.840 and not military wants. By then, it was after five 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:20.439 pm on Thanksgiving Eve and all local businesses selling outdoor 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:25.199 gear were closed for the holiday, but Seattle police eventually 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.480 got through to the owner of a local skydiving school, 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:32.920 who was able to deliver what they needed. While scrambling 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.840 to comply with the man's demands, the authorities were also 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:40.679 trying to work out its game plan. Based on the 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:44.520 fact that he'd asked for four parachutes, they assumed that 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:50.760 likely be a potential hostage situation. Finally, with everything figured 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.840 out on the ground, air traffic control told Captain Scott 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.760 that he was cleared to land. He relayed this message 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:03.520 to Tina, who relaid it to the enigmatic man in 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:08.240 the suit and sunglasses. Having circled the city for around 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:12.880 two hours, Flight three oh five finally landed at Seattle 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:17.600 Tacoma Airport and taxied to a remote and well lit 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:23.840 area of the tarmac. Per the hijacker's instructions, no vehicles 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:27.960 or personnel were allowed to come anywhere near the aircraft. 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:33.160 As she felt the wheels touched the ground, Tina allowed 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:37.160 herself a brief moment of relief. For the past hour, 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:39.560 she had been doing her best to stay focused on 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:43.560 the task at hand and not think about her own survival. 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:48.000 But her task was far from over. She'd done such 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:51.680 a good job of keeping the hijacker calm that now 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.880 she was the only person on board who he trusted, 0:14:55.680 --> 0:15:06.600 and he had plans for her. Tina felt the rush 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.600 of the cool evening air on her face as the 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:14.520 aircraft door opened and filled her with a sudden, overwhelming 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.280 urge to run. But Tina was not going to be 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:23.600 leaving any time soon. So far, the hijacker had only 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:27.120 agreed to release the passengers, and he was now sitting 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.680 with his finger on the trigger mechanism of the bomb. 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:36.680 Should anyone get any funny ideas. Slowly, Tina descended the 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:40.400 stairs toward the tarmac, where a lone figure in a 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:45.080 high vized vest was waiting for her. Al Lee, the 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:50.119 airline's Seattle based operations manager, had been tasked with delivering 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:54.600 the cash and the parachutes. Are you okay? He asked, 0:15:55.120 --> 0:16:00.400 looking at Tina with concern. She nodded quickly, forcing back 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:04.280 tears as she took the supplies. Then she turned around 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:09.120 and walked back towards the plane. The bag of money 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:13.000 alone weighed around twenty pounds, and it was a struggle 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.680 to wrestle it and the four parachutes up the stairs. 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.920 But once she'd managed it and the hijacker had confirmed 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:24.240 the supplies were correct, he gave the nod to release 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:28.520 the passengers. True to his word, I allowed Or thirty 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.240 six to get off the plane along with Florence, but 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:36.160 not Tina, and not the three pilots in the cockpit 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:42.240 for them. The ordeal was only just beginning. It shouldn't 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:45.400 take this long, muttered the man in the suit as 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:48.280 he waited for the plane to be filled up with fuel, 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:54.400 his eyes darting suspiciously around the tarmac. Then finally, the 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:58.720 refueling was complete and Tina began the process of retracting 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:03.240 the stairs, but the man suddenly stopped her. He wanted 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:08.760 the stairs to stay down. Tina didn't understand. The plane 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:13.680 couldn't take off with the stairs deployed. The hijacker's requests 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:19.240 seemed to be getting stranger. It scared her. Eventually, the 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:23.240 man agreed to a compromise. The stairs could be retracted 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:26.160 while the plane took off, so long as they could 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:31.360 be lowered again once they were airborne. To make this possible, however, 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:34.199 meant the rear door of the plane had to be 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:39.320 kept open throughout the flight, and so with the back 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:44.160 door wide open, the plane took off back into the night. 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.920 It was an eerie sensation to feel the wind whipping 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:52.320 past as they gathered speed, and the sound of the 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:57.480 plane's engines through the open door was deafening. Hunched in 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:01.680 the very back of the darkened cabin, Tina had never 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:06.000 felt more alone or afraid. She had no idea where 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.879 they were going or what the man had planned for 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:12.680 her next. She couldn't take her eyes off the four 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:17.720 parachutes now stacked up next to him. Right then, she 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:20.880 had no idea if she'd make it back to solid 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:35.280 ground alive. Once they were back in the air, the 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:39.560 hijacker told the pilots to chart a southward path to 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:45.000 Mexico City. As Ever, his instructions were specific. They were 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.760 to keep the plane at an altitude of below ten 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.639 thousand feet and fly at a steady speed of just 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:56.840 under two hundred knots. They did as they were told. Meanwhile, 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:01.480 two fighter jets were stealthily following the plane, tracking its 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:05.760 every move from a safe distance over the roaring of 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.399 the engine. Tina tried to talk to the hijacker again 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:13.439 and asked him what his plan was. She just couldn't 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:18.119 take her mind off those damn parachutes. Clearly he intended 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:21.040 to jump from the plane, but why did he need 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.440 four parachutes? But the man seemed not to hear her, 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:32.320 or perhaps he heard perfectly. Either way, he said nothing. Instead, 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:37.199 he spent the next twenty minutes chainsmoking cigarettes, with Tina 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:40.680 having to light each one for him because he still 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:44.080 had a finger pressed against the trigger of the bomb. 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:48.840 After stubbing out his final cigarette, the man got to 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.439 his feet and told Tina to escort him to the 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:57.399 back door and help him lower the stairs. Tina turned 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:01.000 to look at the rear door and froze. The sight 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.760 of it filled her with a primal terror. It was 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:09.840 like looking into a void. Annoyed by her hesitation, the 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:15.720 man repeated the request. Eventually, Tina forced herself to respond 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.159 she would help him do it, but only if she 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.840 could go to the cockpit and get some rope to 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:25.560 tie herself to a seat while she did it. The 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:30.240 hijacker refused, clearly still suspicious that she and the flight 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:36.480 crew were plotting something. But Tina wouldn't budge fine, said 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:41.240 the man. He would do it himself. After getting Tina 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:44.480 to tell him what he needed to do, he directed 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:48.080 her to go to the cockpit, closed the door behind her, 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:53.080 and not come back no matter what happened. She glanced 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:57.040 down at the briefcase with its ominous tangle of wires 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:02.360 and batteries. The idea of it sitting back here unattended 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:07.199 was terrifying. She begged him, will you please take the 0:21:07.280 --> 0:21:11.280 bomb with you? The man reassured her that he'd either 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:14.160 take it with him or disarm it before he jumped, 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:18.640 and she had no choice but to believe him. As 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:22.280 Tina walked away up the aisle, she turned back for 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:26.240 a moment and caught one final glimpse of the hijacker 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:30.240 tying the twenty pound bag of money around his waist, 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:34.080 and then she turned back and made a dash for 0:21:34.119 --> 0:21:45.120 the cockpit. Around eight p m. A warning light blinked 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:48.840 on in the cockpit, indicating that the rear stairs had 0:21:48.880 --> 0:21:53.600 been deployed. About ten minutes later, the tail of the 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:58.800 plane suddenly pitched upwards, forcing the pilots to take corrective action. 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:03.440 To Tina and the pilots, it seemed like the hijacker 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:06.560 must have jumped, but there was no way to be sure, 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:09.560 and none of them wanted to take the risk of 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:12.679 leaving the cockpit in case he was still on board. 0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:19.639 Shortly before eleven PM, the plane reached the airspace above Reno, Nevada, 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:24.080 where it was due to refuel. Tina tried to reach 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:27.760 the suited man through the cabin intercom, telling him they 0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:30.920 were about to land and he needed to raise the stairs, 0:22:31.680 --> 0:22:36.200 but there was no reply. She tried again and again 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:43.320 as they descended, but the stairs remained Against the odds. 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:47.639 Flight three oh five touched down safely in Reno with 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:52.240 the stairs still deployed. When Tina and the pilots finally 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:56.280 emerged from the cockpit, they found the cabin completely empty. 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:00.960 The hijacker was gone, and so too was the bomb, 0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:05.359 the two hundred thousand dollars and two out of the 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:10.120 four parachutes. After the shell shot flight crew were finally 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:13.679 able to leave, an FBI team descended on the plane 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:18.000 sweeping it from end to end. The man in the 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:22.439 sunglasses had been careful to cover his tracks. He'd taken 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:27.000 great effort not to leave any evidence behind, including even 0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:31.560 the note he'd initially written to Florence. The only traces 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:35.280 remaining of him were a pile of cigarette butts and 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:38.760 a black clip on tie he probably forgot to take 0:23:38.840 --> 0:23:42.919 with him. Even though two jets had been following the 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:48.800 flight closely, nobody saw the man jump. Over the days 0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:53.280 to come, the authorities attempted to piece together what his 0:23:53.440 --> 0:23:57.960 final moments on board must have looked like. After sending 0:23:58.040 --> 0:24:01.359 Tina to the cockpit and tying the bag of cash 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:04.480 around his waist, the man is thought to have strapped 0:24:04.600 --> 0:24:07.960 one parachute to his front and another to his back, 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:13.359 perhaps fearing the possibility that one might not open. Then, 0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:17.560 after picking up his deadly briefcase, he lowered the stairs 0:24:18.840 --> 0:24:22.280 beneath him. All he would have seen was a thick 0:24:22.440 --> 0:24:27.679 layer of cloud blanketed by a total darkness. Taking the 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:31.040 windchill into account, it would have been at least forty 0:24:31.080 --> 0:24:37.400 degrees below zero. Then, probably somewhere over the Cascade Mountains. 0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:43.920 He jumped, and the authorities had nothing except one thing, 0:24:44.920 --> 0:24:48.240 the name the man had given at the airport when 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:55.760 he brought his ticket to Seattle. Dan Cooper, you'd been 0:24:55.760 --> 0:25:01.160 listening to Unexplained Season seven, episode twenty two, Jumping into 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:05.960 Legend Part one. The second and final part will be 0:25:06.040 --> 0:25:11.879 released next Friday, May twenty fourth. This episode was written 0:25:11.880 --> 0:25:15.560 by Emma Dibton and produced by Richard mc lean smith. 0:25:16.400 --> 0:25:20.639 Unexplained is an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard 0:25:20.720 --> 0:25:24.320 mc clan smith. All other elements of the podcast, including 0:25:24.359 --> 0:25:29.719 the music, are also produced by me Richard mc lean smith. Unexplained. 0:25:29.760 --> 0:25:33.119 The book and audiobook, with stories never before featured on 0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:36.600 the show, is now available to buy world wide. You 0:25:36.680 --> 0:25:41.440 can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. 0:25:42.160 --> 0:25:45.240 Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get 0:25:45.240 --> 0:25:48.000 your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with 0:25:48.080 --> 0:25:51.439 any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on 0:25:51.480 --> 0:25:54.240 the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own 0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:56.959 you'd like to share. You can find out more at 0:25:57.080 --> 0:26:01.080 Unexplained podcast dot com and reaches on line through Twitter 0:26:01.359 --> 0:26:05.879 at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward 0:26:05.920 --> 0:26:07.879 Slash Unexplained. 0:26:07.320 --> 0:27:33.359 Podcast Dinner A. 0:27:28.359 --> 0:29:15.360 B B B bases the Delain, then Dinna Dislong b. 0:29:17.440 --> 0:29:26.240 B, the. 0:29:34.920 --> 0:30:01.560 Di Din. 0:30:05.440 --> 0:30:10.600 Din Dict 0:30:14.160 --> 0:30:14.200 Di