In 1971, a single crime created an American legend. A man known only as D.B. Cooper bailed out of a plane with $200,000 and a parachute, never to be seen again.
But Cooper did more than create a personal legend. His actions prompted several people to attempt similar hijackings, including in St. Louis in 1972. The hijacker in that case, Martin McNally, successfully hijacked an American Airlines flight departing Lambert-St. Louis International Airport — but during his escape, he dropped the ransom of $500,000.
McNally’s crimes in St. Louis form the core of the new book “American Flight 119: How D.B. Cooper Inspired a Skyjacking Craze and the FBI’s Battle to Stop It,” by University of Missouri history professor John Wigger.
McNally served nearly 40 years in federal prisons before his release in 2010. In addition to talking to Wigger for the book, McNally delivered a presentation via Zoom to the professor’s class on aviation.
“He was wonderful with the students. He answered all of their questions without any dissembling,” Wigger said Thursday on St. Louis on the Air. “He also told them that the hijacking was the stupidest thing he'd ever done — that, in some respects, it ruined his life. He encouraged them to stay in school and make something of themselves.”
McNally was one of five parachute hijackers whose lives and crimes are documented in Wigger’s book. None of them was able to match Cooper’s feat.
“I think in many ways, [McNally] came the closest to getting away with it,” Wigger said. “There are certainly easier ways to steal money than bailing out of the back of a [Boeing] 727 at night. I think that's one of the things that connected all of the parachute hijackers, that looking for some big event that would give their lives a sense of meaning.”
He added: “I think there were also other things that formed a profile, if you will, for these hijackers. Most of them had experienced the trauma of war, usually in World War II or Vietnam. I think it's pretty clear that most of them were suffering from some form of PTSD. And in some cases, [hijacking] was something that they did and really couldn't even explain later why they had done it.”
To hear more from University of Missouri professor John Wigger, including his insights from interviewing more than a dozen retired FBI agents, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Ulaa Kuziez is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
