"How to spoil a good investigation"
How to spoil a good investigation
She said; “Do you think he was a bigot? I mean, was he prejudiced?” I said; “Against who?” “The Cabin Attendants,” she replied. I thought, hmmm… was he? “Why?” I asked. She said; “Because no one seems to believe them about Cooper’s behavior, and they spent more time with Cooper than anyone, more than the passengers, more than the Cockpit Crew, more than anybody!”
The above conversation went on between me and my wife (Sugar) while she was pouring over some of the data that I have gathered over the years. We were talking about Ralph P. Himmelsbach, who until his retirement in 1980, was the FBI Agent in Charge of the Northwest Flight 305 skyjacking (NORJAK). Sugar and I think differently to say the least, and she almost always sees things differently than I do. And, although I’d never tell her, I value that “different” point of view.
Before I go any further, I want to make something perfectly clear, I don’t know Ralph Himmelsbach, I’ve never met him, never seen him, and I’ve never read his book(s). Any opinions I have about him, come from statements about him, or statements by him, in other references. So, there’s the disclaimer! And while I’m at it, here’s another. I am an honest person, maybe honest to a fault. I call things the way I see them and when it comes to NORJAK, it is more important for me to know the truth, and help solve this case, than to try not to step on anyone’s toes.
Himmelsbach was probably a good, hard-working public servant, who put in nine hard years on the case, but, if he brought his own brand of prejudice into the investigation, then he may have hurt the case more than he helped it. Oh… and one more thing. Not only have I never read books by Himmelsbach, I have never read any books about NORJAK. The reason: I want to dig out the facts on my own, not be influenced by the conclusions of others.
In 1971 there were not as many career opportunities for young women as there are now. In just a few years it would begin to change, but in ’71 a young woman wanting a career (as opposed to being a housewife) had few choices. She could choose any career she wanted as long as it was Nurse, Schoolteacher, Hairdresser, Airline Stewardess (the term “Cabin Attendant” didn’t exist then), Waitress, Telephone Operator (yes we used to have them to assist you with calls) and Secretary. Of those career choices the Airline Stewardess was the “glamour job” of the bunch. The stewardesses were selected by their physical attributes as much as anything else. (Look at photo’s of Mucklow and Schaffer as an example.)
Careers for men were much more plentiful and varied, certainly too many to list. But from the man’s choices, being an FBI Agent would certainly be the “glamour job” on the men’s side of the aisle. And that position was usually filled by a “man’s man”. And sometimes, that macho-man, who’s whole world may have revolved around his precious daughter (or granddaughter), could not think of an airline stewardess as anything but something to look at and bring him coffee on long flights. I don’t know if Himmelsbach felt that way, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if he did.
Consider this statement, it is one that you can find paraphrased in almost every account of the skyjacking:
Cooper's manners and temperament have been the subject of some disagreement.
By the FBI's account, he was boozy and rather raunchy. Ralph Himmelsbach, a lead FBI investigator on the case, said; “the hijacker used filthy language and was obscene. Yet Mucklow, who spent more time with Cooper than any other crew member, has described him as a gentleman. She said, "He seemed rather nice. He was never cruel or nasty. He was thoughtful and calm.”
Now, who would know how Cooper behaved? Most passengers weren’t even aware the plane was being hijacked until they were on the ground in Seattle. The cockpit crew never left the cockpit. The FBI agent was out chasing crooks. However, Mucklow was shoulder-to-shoulder with him for hours. Was it Himmelsbach’s point of view that Mucklow was just a “dumb blonde!”
Unfortunately, it is not hard for me to imagine that “man’s man”, Ralph Himmelsbach, thinking of those “stews” as just soft fluffy things without a brain in their heads. And by extension, how many other “Official FBI Conclusions” were filtered through a prejudicial lens? Two percent, ten percent, seventy percent, or 100 percent?
Was Cooper a heavy smoker as the FBI claimed? Eight cigarettes in five hours, is that heavy? Was he a boozer? One drink, and he spilled half of that. Was he smart, or dumb? A meticulous planner or a devil-may-care rouge. All of these perceived characteristics went into the profile of Dan Cooper. If any of them are wrong, the FBI was probably looking for the wrong man in the critical first few years of the investigation. Himmelsbach may or may not have been prejudiced… but… he was the Agent-In-Charge.
Hi Slug,
good job on the website.
There are lots of historical biases we have to deal with as 37-year-later investigators also.
1970 and 1971 had a lot of extreme events. Kent State, Manson, lots of hijackings, lots of stuff going down in Vietnam and Cambodia, gay rights emerging in Seattle, layoffs from Boeing..the list goes on and on, depending on what you consider important.
The problem is that what we consider "important" from that time, may be very different than what was important to Cooper.
And a very simple thing like having the targeted age (45? vs 35?) skews Cooper from maybe Korea experience to Vietnam experience.
And even if we take the stew's testimony without doubt, they have biases too...I mean I would think in '71 if you saw a guy in a nice suit, you'd probably assume he was older. Who knows.
Hey I want to have a discussion about his hat..was there one? Be nice to have an index with indepth analysis of every little detail. (grow over time)
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re Agent H.
I was thinking about age bias.
I believe he's about 82 now? (2008)
So in the picture you have of him with the Ingrams in 1980, he's 54? and he was 45 in 1971? So he was supposedly looking for someone his own age (or he thought he was). And rememember there were serious gaps of understanding between different age and cultural groups back then (I suppose still are).
Could Agent H. have recognized and felt any of Coopers thoughts or emotions? who knows? Could that have affected the investigation? who knows?
....Interesting coincidence that Brian Ingram was born in probably '71 or '72!
I guess I'm biased to thinking Cooper was younger than 45 in 1971.
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Snowmman,
Thanks for the kind words!
You are absolutely “spot-on,” when I talk with the younger crowd (20-35 age range) who weren’t born at the time of the hijacking, I notice that they just don’t seem to grasp the cultural aspects of the crime and the investigation. A good example: I talked to a guy who could not believe Cooper would go through “all that” for a measly $200,000. Well, I had to point out to him that $200,000 in 1971 had, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the buying power of $1,045,397.53 in 2008. In regard to other cultural issues, there was a lot of anger in 1971 among all socio-economic groups and the younger generation against the older generation. In 1971, I was in the; “Don’t trust anyone over forty” mode.
I’m not getting down of Himmelsbach, because I think he exhibited some malfeasance, I just think he took some prejudices of the day into the investigation.
About the hat:
This myth showed up about a year ago (before the FBI started releasing additional info. The D. B. Cooper myth has spawned a cottage industry of short-story fiction based on the crime. I honestly think someone read a short-story (on the internet) that used the hat as a literary vehicle, and did not realize it was fiction. Then once it was on the internet it spread like wildfire in the mythology. I have no verifiable evidence that he had a hat with him. I have found at least two short-stories that mention the “homburg hat”. One stating; “Like so many other American males of that day, Cooper wore a homburg hat—felt, with a dented crown and narrow brim.”
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Quote from Snowmman
Be nice to have an index with in-depth analysis of every little detail. (grow over time)
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That’s what I’m trying to do with the “The Facts and the Myths” page on my main website. [Click Here] If you have something you would like to submit for “open-source” investigation, send it to n467us@charter.net .
Thanks again,
Sluggo
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Having met Himmelsbach and speaking with him 100's of times over the past 12 yrs, I can say he is a very considerate man. In the beginning of our long telephone relationship - he tooted the original thoughts on Cooper that he has been know to express.
Be it his age or my relationship to the case he did mellow in his opinions of Cooper. I spoke with him today because June 18, 1924 is the birthday of the man I have contended for 13 yrs was D.B. Cooper.
I will defend the FBI's actions of 1971 as they dealt with what they had available. The general population does not understand that we did not possess the technology available today. They had to rely on verbal discussions and calls from the general public and radar to tell them where the plane was.
They missed the search area because of erroneous information provided by the public and the fact the technology of the time was not available to track the plane and the ejection of Cooper.
I commend the actions of the FBI in 1971 - but, the newer agents do not grasp nor were they taught the how's and why's of yesterdays. Some do not understand how the system worked in 1971 or prior to that. In other words the training FBI agents now recieve does not include history on such things as the Central FBI Print System nor are they aware of problems documented with the upstart of that system - they think it is infallible and don't try to tell a FBI agent that in 1966 the FBI did not use the fingerprints of 1944 unless none other were available. The inks used and the quality in the old prints often could not be read by the computer and they used the last and most current prints of offenders.
I had one agent tell me that the prints were sent to Washington DC to be warehoused and not kept in the prisons.
This may be true today, but not in the 60's - many prisons and their print files had not yet been put into the system - it was a long painful process with lots of glitches.
So with that I still maintain that Himmelsbach did the best he could with what he had to work with. What hinders today's agent is their own bias and inability to understand the history of the existing technology.
I boils down to a kid saying "Why didn't someone use their cell to take a picture of Cooper?" Duh! no cell phones in 1971, but then I don't know when the 1st cell phones came into existence. This is what I have found typical of todays agents.
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Thank you Ms Cooper,
I know this has been a difficult day for you. I’ve thought about you a lot today.
Thank you for coming to my blog and posting on the special day.
Do you think Himmelsbach would talk to me? If so, please give him my contact information and make him aware of this Blog and my web site.
Thanks again,
Sluggo
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