Crime Time

FBI says parachute wasn't legendary hijacker's

Oh well, it was intriguing for a while.

The FBI says that a parachute found buried in southwestern Wa shington is not the one used by legendary plane hijacker D.B. Cooper when he jumped from a Northwest Orient passenger jet in 1971 with $200,000 in ransom money paid by the airline to free the plane's passengers.

The chute was found by children after their father had cleared some land.

"From the best we could learn from the people we spoke to, it just didn't look like it was the right kind of parachute in any way," FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said.

So, the legend of D.B. Cooper -- his real name is Dan Cooper -- lives on, even though his fate remains unknown.

-- Lance Murray

Could buried chute be hijacker D.B. Cooper's?

He's a character immortalized in countless movies and television shows -- the daring hijacker D.B. Cooper who parachuted in November 1971 from the back stairs of an airliner in flight over the Washington-Oregon border.

He was never found, nor was the $200,000 ransom he received to release the plane's passengers. This sketch from 1971 shows what Cooper -- really Dan Cooper -- looked like. The case is one of the most enduring crime mysteries of the 20th century, wrapped in nearly mythical adoration by some crime enthusiasts and authors.

Now the FBI says its analyzing a torn, tangled parachute, shown at left, that kids found buried near their home in Amboy, Wash. The kids found the parachute's fabric sticking up from the ground close to where their father had been grading a road.

Could it be?

-- Lance Murray

FBI arrests teen in possible airliner hijack plot

Federal officials say that a teenage boy has been arrested in Nashville and faces charges of plotting to hijack a Southwest Airlines plane.

The unidentified teen reportedly had handcuffs, rope and duct tape in his bag when he was removed from Southwest Flight 284 Tuesday night. Authorities searched the boy's California home and found a mock cockpit, according to the FBI.

He apparently was planning to hijack his flight but authorities haven't determined if he planned to crash it. The teen is in custody in Tennessee and federal charges are expected to be filed soon.

You can read more here.

-- Lance Murray