He was the very first hijacker- started all the security stuff. Jumped w/ parachute in dark, stormy weather w/ $200,000 between Seattle and Portland in 70's. Until then, you could carry a gun onto a plane-- and he did. I gave the first-- but not as detailed an answer, but I was living there at the time- news covered it 24/7, and again every year on the anniversary for decades. He may not have been the VERY first EVER to hijack a plane, but he certainly started all the security measures in the U.S. No one had even thought of doing it until then. The man carried a backpack on the plane with a parachute in it, and a handgun. His note and $ demand said D.B.Cooper. The money that was found was rotted, and no one could ever prove that it was from the hijacking, as the $ was not marked, or recorded- not enough notice. There was a rotted parachute found in the woods, hanging from the trees, found many years later. Only picture description of D.B. Cooper was a drawing- no one asked for I.D. To board a plane back then either.

DB Cooper was the only person, depending on who you believe, to get away with a hijacking in America. In 1971, he hijacked a flight out of Portland and wswindling about $200K cash. He jumped out the plane and "escaped". If he survived the jump, it was the perfect crime, if he did not, it was still a daring crime. No one ever found DB Cooper. It is a big mystery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_b_cooper It is a pseudonym. Information on the case at the FBI site: On November 24, 1971, an unknown subject, also known as Dan Cooper, purchased a one-way ticket on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305. The flight was carrying 36 passengers and crew. The flight originated in Portland, Oregon with the final destination of Seattle, Washington. The plane was hijacked just prior to its arrival in Seattle. In Seattle, the hijacker allowed the passengers and two stewardesses to depart the plane. Northwest Orient Airlines paid the hijacker $200,000. The plane departed Seattle for Reno, Nevada. It is believed the hijacker parachuted from the plane during this flight. Authorities and personnel from Fort Lewis, Washington searched for Mr. Cooper but he was never found. In 1980, an 8-year-old boy found $5,800 on the bank of the Columbia River. This is the only money ever recovered from the ransom. http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/dbcooper.htm It isn't the FIRST highjacking The first recorded aircraft hijack was on February 21, 1931, in Arequipa, Peru. Byron Rickards flying a Ford Tri-Motor was approached on the ground by armed revolutionaries. He refused to fly them anywhere and after a ten day stand-off Rickards was informed that the revolution was successful and he could go in return for giving one of their number a lift to Lima.