Forty-five years ago on Thursday, a group of Thanksgiving travelers climbed on board a Boeing 747-100 and headed to Seattle from Portland one day before the great American feast.
Northwest Orient flight 305 should have been an uneventful cruise of two hours and 45 minutes for the 36 passengers. But D.B. Cooper had other plans.
Once the Boeing 727-100 had taken off, he passed a note to flight attendant Florence Schaffner. It said he had a bomb in his briefcase that he would use if necessary. He told her to sit next to him.
Cooper wanted $200,000 in unmarked bills and parachutes. If those weren't provided when the plane touched down at Sea-Tac, Cooper said he'd detonate his bomb. The FBI says he opened his black briefcase, showing her wires, a battery and red sticks.
And so began one of the great American crime mysteries.
When the plane reached Seattle, Cooper exchanged the passengers for the money and three parachutes then demanded to be flown to Mexico. On the way, he launched his famous escape.
When the plane was about 20 miles north of Portland, as the plane was going 196 miles per hour and the weather was stormy with a wind chill of 70 below zero, the crew felt a change in cabin air pressure.
Cooper had opened a rear door and jumped from the back stairs. He's never been seen again.
Decades passed with the FBI working the case, searching a wide swath of countryside, running down leads and considering every possibility, to no avail. The story spawned a small cottage industry of books, a movie in 1981, and at least two songs until finally, this year, the FBI closed the case.
"We have arrived at our conclusion today that it was just time to close the case because there isn't anything new out there," said Special Agent in Charge Frank Montoya, Jr. "There's a lot that goes into that decision but really it was just time."