Northwest Orient was eventually absorbed into Delta Air Lines in 2008, as part of a merger that created one of the world’s largest carriers. The aircraft registration N467US—the 727-100 that Cooper hijacked—had long since been retired. The airline that Cooper chose as the vehicle for his scheme no longer exists as an independent entity.
The crew members who flew that night worked for Northwest Orient throughout careers that presumably extended well past 1971. Captain William Scott, First Officer William Rataczak, and flight engineer Harold Anderson flew a hijacked aircraft under conditions imposed by a man with an apparent bomb, brought it safely to Sea-Tac, and then flew it again to Reno after Cooper had jumped. Their professional conduct that night is part of the case’s record, though it receives less attention than the mystery of Cooper’s identity.
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## The Geography of the Jump Zone
The landscape over which Cooper jumped has been examined extensively by researchers trying to establish where he came down.
The Boeing 727-100, following the route southward from Sea-Tac toward Reno, would have been passing over the transition zone between the lowland agricultural areas of the Willamette Valley and the more rugged terrain of the Cascades and their foothills. The area of southwestern Washington between Portland and the mountains to the east—Clark County, Cowlitz County, and the Cascade foothills—is a complex landscape of river valleys, forested ridges, and volcanic terrain.
The Lewis River flows westward through this area before joining the Columbia. The Washougal River does the same, roughly parallel but to the south. The Kalama River and its watershed lie further north in Cowlitz County. All of these rivers are tributaries of the Columbia, and the Columbia itself forms the border between Washington and Oregon as it flows westward toward the Pacific.