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 California-based producer Tom Colbert filed the lawsuit in
federal court on Thursday, after the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in July announced it was officially closing its
investigation into the 1971 crime.
"As the FBI has administratively closed its investigation,
release of the requested records could not reasonably be
expected to interfere with pending enforcement proceedings,"
stated Colbert's 21-page lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C.
The lawsuit is an indication that interest in D.B. Cooper, a
moniker given to the skyjacker by the media after he vanished,
shows no sign of quieting down.
The lawsuit states Colbert and his private investigative team
uncovered evidence linking a California man to the skyjacking
and that he seeks a release of records "to prove once and for
all the true identity of D.B. Cooper."
Colbert's lawsuit cites the U.S. Freedom of Information Act in
seeking the investigative file.
The television and film producer, who was involved in a History
Channel documentary called "D.B. Cooper: Case Closed?" that
aired in July, could not be reached for further comment.
FBI representatives did not return emails seeking comment on the
lawsuit.
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In the skyjacking, a man who called himself Dan Cooper, dressed in a
business suit and tie, boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines flight in
Portland, Oregon, bound for Seattle.
After take-off, he showed a flight attendant a mass of wires and red
sticks in his briefcase, making her believe it was a bomb, according
to the FBI.
The aircraft safely landed in Seattle, where the man freed 36
passengers in exchange for $200,000 in cash from the airline and
four parachutes, but kept several crew members aboard as the plane
took off again, ordered this time to fly to Mexico City.
Later, at an altitude of about 10,000 feet (1.9 miles), the man
leapt out of the back of the jetliner into the night with a
parachute and the ransom money.
Whether Cooper survived the jump over a rugged, wooded landscape
somewhere between Seattle and Reno, Nevada, has never been
confirmed. The FBI has said it never established his true identity.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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