Expert: Parachute not D.B. Cooper's

AMBOY, Wash., April 1 (UPI) -- An old parachute found in rural Washington last week wasn't used by skyjacker D.B. Cooper back in 1971, an expert said Monday night.

Earl Cossey told The (Portland) Oregonian Monday night an FBI agent took the parachute to his home last Friday and asked him if he believed it could be the one Cooper used when he leaped from a Northwest Airlines flight the night of Nov. 24, 1971, with $200,000 in ransom money.

"Not even close, not even close," said Cossey, who packed the four parachutes given to Cooper.

An agent in the FBI's Seattle office told The Oregonian the law enforcement agency wanted to take one more step Tuesday before commenting.

The mystery of what happened to Cooper after he leaped from the jetliner that night remains unsolved.