10 Most Compelling Suspects In The D.B. Cooper Hijacking

One of the most interesting elements of the case is that whoever was involved must have had to have extensive parachute training in order to be able to jump and survive a landing the extreme weather conditions which were present on 24 November 1971. This subsequently narrows down the suspect list quite significantly and rules out several contenders.

However, one subject who had all the required training necessary was Kenneth Christiansen, who was put forward as a suspect after his brother saw a documentary on D.B. Cooper in 2003. Christiansen was an army veteran and trained paratrooper and was 45 at the time of the incident. Since retiring from the Army he also served as a flight attendant, which meant that he possessed every single skill and piece of knowledge required to pull off such a stunt.

Despite being seemingly the perfect candidate, Christiansen was eventually ruled out by the FBI, who deemed him too short to have been Cooper. Despite having a fondness for cigarettes and bourbon just like Cooper, the FBI also cited all of the evidence surrounding Christiansen's involvement as entirely circumstantial.