Who is DB Cooper? Loki episode 1 'solves' US true crime

Loki is shown hijacking a commercial plane, gravely telling the flight attendant that he has a bomb and demanding a large sum of cash. Once the money is handed over, he jumps out the back of the jet never to be seen again.

Incredibly, this actually happened. Well, kind of.

If the DB Cooper scene in Loki episode one left you scratching your head, read on for a full explanation of the real-life case and the aspects that Marvel Studios have changed for its Disney Plus show.

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DB Cooper: True story explained

The real-life case that inspired that particular Loki scene took place on 24th November 1971, when an unassuming man named Dan Cooper bought a one-way ticket from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about Cooper; he was quiet, middle-aged, smartly dressed and ordered a bourbon and soda upon boarding the plane.

Once the craft was in the air, he passed flight attendant Florence Schaffner a note which she initially assumed was a flirtation tactic, until Cooper informed her he had a bomb and told her to take a seat next to him.

She did as he requested and Cooper showed her the explosive, verifying his threat, before telling her to inform the pilot of his demand: $200,000 in cash (approximately $1.3m in today's money), four parachutes and for the plane to be refuelled when it arrives in Seattle.

When Schaffner returned from the cockpit, Cooper had put on a pair of dark sunglasses; a striking look that has become synonymous with this strange tale.

The pilot made contact with air traffic control in Seattle, informing them of the desperate situation and they in turn got the authorities involved.

Fearing for the lives of the 36 passengers on board as well as the several crew members, the FBI complied with Cooper's demands, with the plane circling in the air for around two hours as the ransom was arranged.

Interestingly, Cooper made a remarkably good impression on the aircraft staff during this time, with the consensus being that he was polite and respectful – flight attendant Tina Mucklow even described him as "thoughtful" and "rather nice".

When the authorities signalled they were ready, the plane landed at Seattle-Tacoma Airport and parked on a section of the tarmac, where the money was handed over in a backpack along with the parachutes.

It is theorised by some that Cooper asked for four parachutes as it implied he might plan to share them with the hostages. As a result, they would all have to be in perfect working order lest there be a risk to innocent life. Nevertheless, the FBI accidentally included a "dummy" parachute in the selection, but luckily, it went unused.

Following the handover, Cooper released the passengers along with Schaffner and senior flight attendant Alice Hancock, keeping only the pilot, co-pilot, Mucklow and flight engineer Harold E Anderson on the craft.

Read more: Does Loki create the Marvel multiverse?

As they waited for the refuelling to be completed, the hijacker had plotted a course towards Mexico City with the help of the crew, agreeing to a second stop-off in Nevada due to the aircraft's limited range.

Cooper made very specific requests during this discussion, including that the plane travel at the slowest possible speed without causing it to stall, that the landing gear remain deployed and that the cabin be unpressurised.

When they took off once again, Cooper told his remaining hostages to lock themselves in the cockpit, where approximately 20 minutes later they were alarmed to see a warning light indicate that the exit staircase at the back of the craft had been extended.

Cooper refused an offer for assistance and never made contact with the crew again. The plane continued its agreed journey to Nevada before landing safely, but armed police were stunned to find that Cooper was no longer onboard.

Despite a far-reaching investigation, he was never seen or heard from again.

The name 'DB Cooper' in association with this case is actually the result of an error, as the hijacker only ever used the name 'Dan Cooper' (which most likely was an alias).

DB Cooper was an entirely different individual with a criminal past who lived locally to Oregon and was one of the first people questioned by police in connection to the incident.

However, a local reporter confused the very similar sounding names in a last-minute report and a newswire service repeated the mistake, establishing DB Cooper as the name widely linked with the case.

More than four decades on from the incident, the FBI announced they were halting all active investigation into the case on 12th July 2016, having made very little progress settling the matter of Cooper's true identity and ultimate fate.

Arguably, the only significant physical evidence to be discovered outside of the aircraft itself is a small portion of the ransom money equating to about $5,800 (i.e. less than three percent of what Cooper was given).

It was found in 1980 by an eight-year-old boy named Brian Ingram, who was on a family holiday at the Tina Bar beachfront of the Columbia River at the time.

The money was handed over to the FBI and confirmed to be from the stash given to Cooper during the hijacking, but there is much confusion and debate about how exactly they ended up there.

Who is DB Cooper in the MCU?

In the first episode of Loki on Disney Plus, it is revealed that the DB Cooper mystery did indeed happen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and it was Loki himself all along!

While there are some inconsistencies in the depiction – the real Cooper had an American accent, for one – and no mention of the correct Dan Cooper alias, the show's depiction isn't too far from what really happened. Although we're fairly confident that Heimdall and the Bifröst weren't involved in our reality.

After being shown the incident by Agent Mobius at the TVA headquarters, Loki cites his reasons for carrying out the death-defying deed: "I was young and I lost a bet to Thor".

Loki premieres on Disney Plus on Wednesday 9th June – for more information see our Loki release schedule guide. To watch, you can sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now.

Check out more of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy coverage, as well as our guides to the best movies on Disney Plus and best shows on Disney Plus.

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