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Most DB Cooper references I've read consider him to be some cross between a folk-hero and lovable-rogue due to the audacity of his crime, lack of harm to civili
by aresant 10y ago
Most DB Cooper references I've read consider him to be some cross between a folk-hero and lovable-rogue due to the audacity of his crime, lack of harm to civilians, and the idea that he might have actually gotten away with it.
But fascinating to read the Wikipedia entry and realize that DB Cooper, and the no less than 15 copycat "parachute hijackings" he inspired in the same year, created a watershed moment in Airport Security that accelerated our steady march to today's over bearing TSA:
"In all, 15 hijackings similar to Cooper's—all unsuccessful—were attempted in 1972.[130] With the advent of universal luggage searches in 1973 (see Airport security) the general incidence of hijackings dropped precipitously.[131]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper
- esaym 10y agoIt also helped that Boeing fitting the 727 with a "Cooper Lock" for the rear loading hatch. Basically a latch with a wind vane that once enough airflow moved over it, it would auto lock the hatch from the outside and thus couldn't be opened in flight. If I remember correctly.
- jonathankoren 10y agoInterestingly, there's evidence that the CIA knew about -- and perhaps utilized -- the Boeing 727's latent air drop capabilities as part of Air America.[0] [0] http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-cia-proved-that-a-boeing-727-can-perform-air-drops-1566155708 http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-cia-proved-that-a-boein...
- smoodles 10y agoOne small data point, I've heard the same from my Pops who was involved with Air America at the time.
- Trill-I-Am 10y agoWow. Does he talk about it much?
- handedness 10y agoNavy SEALs have had that operational capability, as detailed by Chuck Pfarrer (and others) in his book Warrior Soul. (The "Beginning" sample on Amazon contains the text, if anyone's interested in reading it.)
- akira2501 10y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_vane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_vane
- 2bitencryption 10y agoI don't consider luggage searches overbearing. I would not want to get on a plane if everyone's luggage wasn't searched beforehand.
- gregschlom 10y agoHow about getting on a bus? Getting on a train? How about walking on the street next to people whose backpacks haven't been inspected? Should we put x-ray detectors on every street corner, next to the security cameras we already have?
- slimsag 10y agoI get where you are coming from. I don't think that having x-ray detectors for plane luggage gives the passengers much safety: they could always use whatever weapon/bomb at the security line anyway! I do, however, think that it's important not to let those people onto planes in contrast to buses, street corners, etc. because otherwise someone might take control of an entire plane, which can do a lot more damage than a bomb/pistol/etc, you know?
- jjnoakes 10y agoThis is what locked cockpits are for, not invasive luggage searches.
- slimsag 10y agoInteresting point; are there protocols in place to prevent a terrorist on board a plane from entering the cockpit at all costs? e.g. if they start executing passengers, threaten to blow up the plane, etc?
- chimeracoder 10y agoThe cockpit doors have been locked since Sept 12, 2001. It is impossible to open them from the outside without very heavy machinery that could not be operated by a passenger, and even then it can take over half an hour. Even if we did away with security entirely and let people carry guns on board, there would be literally zero risk of a hijacked plane in the US thanks to the locked doors. (There might be other reasons not to do that, but hijacking fears are not one of them). And even then, it's arguable that this would still be impossible. 9/11 happened because hijacking protocol never took into account the possibility that the hijackers would use the plane itself as a weapon. The people on the final hijacked plane on 9/11 did know this, because they received calls about the WTC, so they fought back and forced the plane to crash, thwarting the hijackers' plans.
- PhantomGremlin 10y agoour steady march to today's over bearing TSA Before all those hijackings, there was no airport security screening. None at all! I know that's hard to believe, but we've all gotten used to it since we've had something in place now for about 40 years. There has to be something we can do to ensure safety, but that's less overbearing than today's TSA.
- StanislavPetrov 10y agoThe world is a dangerous place, absolute safety is an unachievable pipe dream. The only thing we an ensuring is that that we have our rights violated and our time wasted by government agents that we pay for. If we really wanted to be safer, we'd stop creating droves of new enemies every day in our pursuit of global military empire. Most of my fellow Americans remain blissfully unaware that we are bombing people, arming jihadists, and backing dictators every day, but the people getting bombed and oppressed are quite aware of what is what. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/a-cluster-bomb-made-in-america-shattered-lives-in-yemens-capital/2016/07/08/e3b722cc-283d-11e6-8329-6104954928d2_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/a-cluster-b... Its inevitable that we are going to continue facing blowback for our actions, but unfortunately its heresy for the masters of conventional wisdom to admit that their policies make life more dangerous for everyone. http://www.salon.com/2016/07/11/u_s_backed_syrian_rebels_committing_war_crimes_torture_abductions_imposing_harsh_sharia_law_report/ http://www.salon.com/2016/07/11/u_s_backed_syrian_rebels_com...
- Shivetya 10y agoGo watch Total Recall, the scene where he walks past the security detail which the skeletal outline. Pretty sure we will get there. There is no reason a computer cannot real time draw an inoffensive view of any person and item moving past. https://youtu.be/7CX9Agzeh-c https://youtu.be/7CX9Agzeh-c
- username3 10y agoEveryone wear a bomb suit.
- mcbits 10y agoI think at this point we have all the technology to replace most air travel with a network of autonomous family-sized aircraft hopping between cities within a few hundred miles, probably not costing much more than a Greyhound ticket. Then the big security threat shifts from what a hijacker can do with a jet packed full of humans and fuel to what a hacker can do by seizing control of the whole network, but the travel experience itself wouldn't need such invasive screening.
- acqq 10y agoAnd my belief is that the story of DB Cooper that inspired the following failures also ended with the failure.
- peterwwillis 10y agoThe epidemic actually started in the 1960s, with 2 in 1968 and 5 in 1969. Before that there had only been one every few years. Starting in 1970, there were at least 44 air hijackings worldwide over the next decade, over half of them before 1973.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]