DB Cooper Mystery Poster

The D.B. Cooper Poster is an engaging educational resource that introduces students to one of America’s most famous unsolved mysteries. The poster explores the events surrounding the 24 November 1971 hijacking of Northwest Orient Flight 305, when a man using the name Dan Cooper demanded $200,000 and four parachutes before escaping from the aircraft by parachute.

The resource highlights key details of the case, including the hijacking, the ransom demand, the flight to Mexico City, Cooper’s mysterious disappearance, and the continuing uncertainty surrounding his identity and whereabouts. It also explains how the name “D.B. Cooper” became associated with the case following a media error.

The poster provides an accessible visual introduction that can be used to support lessons on modern history, crime and investigation, critical thinking, source analysis, and unsolved historical mysteries. Its black-and-white illustrated format also makes it suitable as a colouring activity, allowing students to engage creatively with the historical content.

Learning Opportunities

Students can use the poster to:

Identify the key events of the D.B. Cooper hijacking.
Develop an understanding of the events of 24 November 1971.
Explore why the case remains unsolved.
Consider the difference between known facts and speculation.
Discuss how media reporting can influence historical understanding.
Examine evidence and develop theories about what may have happened.
Reinforce reading, comprehension, and historical vocabulary.
Complete the poster as an independent colouring and learning activity.
The poster works particularly well as a lesson starter, classroom display, revision resource, homework activity, or extension task and can be used alongside other activities about D.B. Cooper and twentieth-century American history.