FBI: Parachute isn't hijacker Cooper's =0A2 minutes ago =0ASEATTLE - The FB= I says a parachute found buried in southwestern Washington is not connected= to famed plane hijacker D.B. Cooper. =0AADVERTISEMENT=0A=0A=0AFBI agent La= ura Laughlin said Tuesday that the agency came to its conclusion after spea= king with parachute experts. It also dug where children found the parachute= early last month.=0ACooper bailed out of a Northwest Orient passenger jet = with $200,000 in ransom in November 1971. Some of the cash has been found b= ut his fate is unknown.=0ATHIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon f= or further information. AP's earlier story is below.=0AVANCOUVER, Wash. (AP= ) =97 A recently discovered parachute could not have been used by D.B. Coop= er in 1971, says the man who packed the four chutes that were given to the = mysterious skyjacker.=0AThe torn, tangled parachute =97 found about a month= ago by children along a dirt road near Amboy =97 was probably made around = 1945, said Earl Cossey, who examined the chute for the FBI on Friday.=0AThe= FBI said the matter remained under investigation.=0AA man who had given hi= s name as Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient flight from Portland, Ore., to= Seattle in November 1971, claiming he had a bomb. After the plane landed a= t Seattle, he released the passengers in exchange for $200,000 and four par= achutes and asked to be flown to Mexico. He then bailed out of the jet as i= t flew somewhere near the Oregon line.=0ASome of the money given to him was= found in 1980 along the Columbia River, but the fate of Cooper remains unk= nown. Many think he could not have survived the jump.=0ACossey, who sold pa= rachutes at a skydiving operation in Issaquah in the 1970s, had provided th= e chutes that the FBI gave Cooper. He told The Columbian of Vancouver that = the newly found chute "absolutely, for sure" could not have been one of the= four that he provided.=0A"The D.B. Cooper parachute was made of nylon," he= said. "This 1945 parachute was made of silk."=0AFBI agent Roberta Burrough= s in Seattle said Monday that agents had not ruled out the possibility that= the chute was from Cooper.=0A"We haven't made a determination one way or t= he other yet," Burroughs said. "We're still in the process of finishing up = what investigative steps we think are necessary to feel certain about calli= ng it one way or the other."=0AThe FBI had launched a publicity campaign la= st fall, hoping to generate new tips to solve the 36-year-old mystery.=0A__= _=0AOn the Net: <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".