List of helicopter prison escapes
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Mountjoy_Prison.jpg/220px-Mountjoy_Prison.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/La-Sante-Prison-MCB.jpg/220px-La-Sante-Prison-MCB.jpg)
There have been multiple prison escapes where an inmate escapes by means of a helicopter. One of the earliest instances was the escape of Joel David Kaplan, nicknamed "Man Fan", on August 19, 1971, from the Santa Martha Acatitla in Mexico.[3][4] Kaplan was a New York businessman who not only escaped the prison but eventually got out of Mexico and went on to write a book about his experience, The 10-Second Jailbreak.[5]
France has had more recorded helicopter prison escape attempts than any other country, with at least 11.[6] One of the most notable French jail breaks occurred in 1986, when the wife of bank robber Michel Vaujour studied for months to learn how to fly a helicopter. Using her newly acquired skills, she rented a white helicopter and flew low over Paris to take her husband from the roof of his fortress prison. Vaujour was later seriously wounded in a shootout with police where he was shot in the head and his wife was arrested.[2]
The record for most helicopter escapes goes to convicted murderer Pascal Payet, who has used helicopters to escape from prisons in 2001, 2003, and most recently 2007.[7]
Another multiple helicopter escapee is Vassilis Palaiokostas, who on February 22, 2009, escaped for the second time from the same prison.[8]
To thwart attempts of this nature, many prisons have taken precautions such as nets or cables strung over open prison courtyards.[9]
This list includes prisoner escapes where a helicopter was used in an attempt to free prisoners from a place of internment, a prison or correctional facility.
Actual attempts
[edit]![]() |
Date | Prison name | Country | Succeeded | Escapee(s) | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 19, 1971 | Santa Martha Acatitla | ![]() |
Yes | Joel David Kaplan
Carlos Antonio Contreras Castro |
Kaplan was a New York businessman who had been arrested for murder in 1962 in Mexico City and was incarcerated at the Santa Martha Acatitla prison in the Iztapalapa borough. Joel's sister, Judy Kaplan, arranged the means to help Kaplan escape, and on the aforementioned date, a helicopter landed in the prison yard. The guards mistakenly thought this was an official visit. In two minutes, Kaplan and his cellmate Contreras, a Venezuelan counterfeiter, were able to board the craft and were piloted away, before any shots were fired.[10] Both men were flown to Texas and then different planes flew Kaplan to California and Contreras to Guatemala.[3] The Mexican government never initiated extradition proceedings against Kaplan.[10] The escape is told in a book, The 10-Second Jailbreak: The Helicopter Escape of Joel David Kaplan.[5] It also inspired the 1975 action movie Breakout, which starred Charles Bronson and Robert Duvall.[10] |
October 31, 1973 | Mountjoy Jail, Dublin | ![]() |
Yes | JB O'Hagan Seamus Twomey Kevin Mallon |
An IRA member hijacked a helicopter and forced the pilot to land in the exercise yard of the prison's D Wing at 3:40 p.m. Three prisoners who were also members of the IRA escaped aboard the helicopter. Another prisoner was quoted as saying, "One shamefaced screw apologised to the governor and said he thought it was the new Minister for Defence (Paddy Donegan) arriving. I told him it was our Minister of Defence leaving."
The escape became Republican lore and was immortalized by "The Helicopter Song", which contains the lines "It's up like a bird and over the city. There's three men a'missing I heard the warder say".[1] |
May 24, 1978 | United States Penitentiary, Marion, Illinois | ![]() |
No | Garrett Brock Trapnell Martin Joseph McNally James Kenneth Johnson |
43-year-old Barbara Ann Oswald hijacked a Saint Louis-based charter helicopter and forced the pilot to land in the prison yard. While landing the aircraft, the pilot, Allen Barklage, who was a Vietnam War veteran, struggled with Oswald and managed to wrestle the gun away from her. Barklage then shot and killed Oswald, thwarting the escape.[11] A few months later Oswald's daughter hijacked TWA Flight 541 in an effort to free Trapnell. |
February 27, 1981 | Fleury-Mérogis, Essonne, Ile de France | ![]() |
Yes | Gérard Dupré Daniel Beaumont |
With the help of Serge Coutel, Dupré and Beaumont succeeded in the first and double helicopter escape of a French prison, in what was regarded as the most secure in the country. The men hijacked a helicopter and its pilot that they rented to fly from Paris to Orléans. The pilot, Claude Fourcade, was taken hostage and was falsely told that they were holding his wife and daughter hostage. The flight landed at Porte d'Orléans.[12] |
May 7, 1981 | Orsainville Prison, Quebec City | ![]() |
No | Marina Paquet (hijacker) Giles Arseneault (prisoner) |
Paquet held a sawed-off shotgun against the back of the head of Jet Ranger helicopter pilot Brian Jenner. She demanded that he land in the prison courtyard, where her boyfriend (awaiting extradition to California on a murder charge) was set to escape. Jenner feigned a panic attack, put the helicopter through some rough maneuvers and was then able to convince Paquet, in the back seat of the Jet Ranger, to turn over her shotgun and her knife. Jenner then gave her the choice of any landing spot, except the prison. She chose to go back to the airport.
The pilot then explained, in great detail, exactly where they were and where they would be landing on arrival at the Quebec City airport. He added that the police would surely be aware by then, that she had hijacked the helicopter but would not yet be aware that she had given up her arms to the pilot. All the time Jenner was squeezing the transmit button on his cyclic stick and the tower was picking up all the details. The moment they touched down at the airport, the woman left the helicopter but the police, who had been advised of the situation by the control tower, were hiding nearby, and captured Paquet within seconds. |
January, 1983 | Pentridge (HM Prison) | ![]() |
No | David McMillan | Three suspects, all held on drug-importation charges, hired a former SAS soldier, then living in the Philippines, to lift the prisoners from the jail's tennis court to a nearby van fitted with panels to hide them for the 600 kilometre road trip to Sydney, where a yacht was to take them to Manila. The plan was thwarted when Lord Tony Moynihan, himself an exile in the Philippines, informed the Australian Federal Police, who then ran it as a sting operation.[13]
Of the accused, only McMillan and his accountant friend who had visited the prison stood trial. During the hearings, few prosecution witnesses used their real names as they were mostly from Moynihan's former West African MI6 unit. Those on trial were convicted and sentenced.[14] |
December 19, 1985 | Perry Correctional Institution, Pelzer, South Carolina | ![]() |
Yes | James Rodney Leonard William Douglas Ballew Jesse Glenn Smith |
Leonard, a murderer, Ballew and Smith, who were both armed robbers, fled in a helicopter with a pilot and a woman hijacker with a pistol to a getaway car 4 to 5 miles away.[15] The 3-passenger helicopter was so overloaded with 5 occupants that it barely cleared the fence, while flying away in a hail of gunfire that injured one guard. Two other men attempted to escape as well, but either jumped or were pushed off when the pilot told the escapees that the helicopter could not take off.[16] The three escapees were captured on December 23 in Camden County, Georgia.[17] |
December 31, 1985 | Cândido Mendes penitentiary, Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro | ![]() |
Yes | José Carlos dos Reis Encina, a.k.a. "Escadinha" | Encina, a drug lord, was rescued by José Carlos Gregório, aka "Gordo", who rented the Bell 47 aircraft under the guise of surveying some lands he intended to buy. "Gordo" forced the pilot to land and pick up Encina, who had escaped the prison proper earlier. Encina was recaptured three months later after being shot in a firefight.[18] |
May 26, 1986 | Prison de la Santé | ![]() |
Yes | Michel Vaujour | Vaujour had 28 years to serve for attempted murder and armed robbery; this was his fourth escape attempt. He made his way to the roof by threatening guards with a fake pistol and nectarines painted as grenades. On top of the jail he was picked up by his wife Nadine, who had taken helicopter pilot lessons especially for the escape.[6] They landed at a nearby football pitch and fled in a waiting car.[2] Paris-Match published amateur photos of the escape, which was made into a film starring Béatrice Dalle in 1991.[19] |
November 5, 1986 | Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, California | ![]() |
Yes | Samantha Lopez | Ronald J. McIntosh walked away from a minimum security prison on October 28 and then hijacked a helicopter on November 5.[20][21] He used the helicopter to free Lopez from the prison. Both were later caught on November 15 when they arrived to pick up wedding rings from a California shopping mall. The authorities were monitoring the account McIntosh used to write the check and the police were waiting for them.
McIntosh for his role in the escape was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Lopez was given five years added to her 50-year sentence for a 1981 bank robbery in Georgia.[22] As they were driven away to their separate prisons McIntosh was able to lean out of a car window and yell, "I love you!" to Lopez.[23] Lopez was released from prison on 20 April 2010.[24] |
November 23, 1986 | Prigione di Rebibbia, Rome | ![]() |
Yes | André Bellaïche Gianluigi Esposito Luciano Cipollari |
A Red Cross helicopter was hijacked by two gunmen and forced to fly to the courtyard of the maximum-security prison. The pilot hovered the helicopter three feet off the courtyard ground while around 50 inmates were exercising. While the hijackers laid covering fire, the three inmates tried to board the helicopter. Bellaiche, 36, was a Tunisian-born Frenchman who was in jail for murder and bank robbery. Esposito, 30, was an arms smuggler accused of providing weapons to Italian terrorists. Cipollari, 24, an Italian extradited from France in 1985 for murder, slipped and fell preventing him from escaping. The helicopter flew to a nearby football field scattering an ongoing game. The men ran out of the helicopter and hijacked a car to escape.[25] They later managed to flee Italy, but police was able to track them down and they were both arrested again on December 13, 1986. Esposito later revealed that he had intentionally prevented Cipollari from boarding, because he was just 2 years away from being released.[26] |
December 10, 1987 | Gartree (HM Prison) | ![]() |
Yes | Sydney Draper John Kendall |
At 3:16 p.m., Kendall and Draper were sprung from Gartree's exercise yard with the aid of a hijacked Bell 206L helicopter. Kendall was a gangland boss serving eight years while Draper was jailed for murder and serving a life sentence.[27] The escape caused great controversy at the time and led to a tightening of security at the jail. Kendall was recaptured 10 days later but Draper remained at large for 13 months. |
July 11, 1988 | Penitentiary of New Mexico | ![]() |
Yes | Danny Mahoney Francis Mitchell Randy Lackey |
Pilot Charles Bella was hired to fly a real estate agent around the Santa Fe area. As he was flying his Aerospatiale Gazelle helicopter the passenger pulled a gun and forced him to land in the prison courtyard. The three inmates jumped in and he flew the aircraft to another site, pursued by a US Customs Service helicopter that was later joined by a state police helicopter. Pursuing helicopters claimed that Bella tried to force them down through aggressive maneuvers. However, they were able to tail him and police were waiting for the helicopter every time it touched down.[9][28] Mitchell and Lackey were captured almost right away while Mahoney was later captured with assistance from a canine unit.[9] |
April 17, 1989 | Federal Holding Facility, Miami, Florida | ![]() |
No | Ben Kramer | Kramer, a famous Apache Boat owner and racer tried to escape by helicopter from the prison. The escape failed when the rookie pilot, Charles Clayton Stevens, hovered 12 inches off the ground in a very tight space (200 feet long by 50 feet wide). When the 6'2", 240 lb Kramer jumped into the small two seater Bell 47D-1 trainer, its rear rotor struck the razor wire, causing it to be uncontrollable. Stevens made an attempt to take off anyway. One of the skids caught on the razor wire, causing the helicopter to catapult over the fence and crash into the prison grounds. Both Kramer and Stevens sustained extensive injuries.[29][30]
Kramer was serving life without parole for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges resulting from drug trafficking, and also pleaded guilty to the murder of fellow boat builder and racer Don Aronow, owner of Cigarette Off Shore Boats.[29] |
August 19, 1989 | Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, Colorado | ![]() |
Yes | Ralph Brown Freddie Gonzales |
Brown and Gonzales were able to escape via helicopter. Two women, Rebecca Brown and Patricia Gonzales chartered a helicopter out of Denver. Once airborne the women held handguns to pilot Tim Graves head and ordered him to land in the prison yard to pick up the two men. They were recaptured in Holdrege, Nebraska that night after firing at law enforcement officers.[31] |
June 19, 1990 | Kent Penitentiary, British Columbia | ![]() |
Yes | Robert Ford David Thomas |
Ford and Thomas escaped when a hijacked helicopter landed in the courtyard. They were captured by the RCMP at Harrison Lake two days later. Correctional Officer R. Kirby was shot during the incident and survived. The pilot, Fred Fandrich of Valley Helicopters, was not injured. The Bell 206 helicopter was damaged by gunfire from prison guards. |
April 7, 1991 | Rio Piedras State Penitentiary, Puerto Rico | ![]() |
Yes | William Lane | Several inmates were able to escape when a helicopter plucked them from the prison. The escape prompted the Puerto Rico House Government Committee to pass a regulation that allowed penal officials to fire on any helicopter aiding an escape attempt.[32] Plans for the escape have been attributed to drug dealer Papo Cachete, who died during 2019. |
February 24, 1992 | Lyon Prison | ![]() |
Yes | — | Two armed men hijacked a helicopter in Albertville as it was about to take off to pick up skiers in the Alps and forced the pilot to fly to the prison. The helicopter landed in the courtyard and three prisoners clambered aboard. After this successful escape, cables were strung across the central yard at five-metre intervals.[6] |
December 1992 | Touraine Central Prison, Tours | ![]() |
No | — | The would-be escapee was shot dead by prison guards; three others were wounded.[19] |
June 17, 1993 | Touraine Central Prison, Tours | ![]() |
No | Michel Vaujour | Vaujour and his wife were imprisoned in 1991. A man and woman hijacked a helicopter and held the pilot's family hostage. The wife alerted police and the prison was locked down before the helicopter arrived. It returned to its base, from where the hijackers escaped in a car.[19] |
December 30, 1996 | High Security Prison, Santiago | ![]() |
Yes | Four members of the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front | Two women suspected of involvement were Irish citizens, raising suspicions of a Provisional IRA link to the left-wing rebel escapees.[33] |
September 18, 1997 | De Geerhorst jail | ![]() |
No | — | The escape attempt failed when the helicopter crashed into the prison ground . The helicopter had been stolen earlier in Belgium. The pilot was killed and the Colombian escapee, who was serving a long-term sentence for drug trafficking, walked away with slight injuries.[34] |
March 25, 1999 | Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre | ![]() |
Yes | John Killick | Librarian Lucy Dudko hired a helicopter under the pretence of checking out the upcoming Olympic site in Sydney.[35] Using a gun she forced pilot Tim Joyce to land on the prison grounds. Waiting was Killick, who was serving 28 years for armed robbery. He jumped in the helicopter while being fired on by guards and cheered on by inmates. They landed in a park where Killick hijacked a taxi at gunpoint. The two were able to elude authorities for six weeks before being arrested at the Bass Hill Tourist Park.
Dudko, dubbed Red Lucy by the media, was sentenced to the maximum of 10 years and was sent to Mulawa Correctional Centre women's prison. On May 9, 2006, she was released on parole after serving 7 years of her sentence.[36] Killick was released on January 22, 2015, but is not allowed to have contact with Dudko until he turns 80 years old.[37] |
June 5, 2000 | Martin Treatment Center for Sexually Violent Predators, Martin County, Florida | ![]() |
Yes | Steven Whitsett | Whitsett was serving a civil commitment as a Sexually Violent Predator at the prison. At approximately 1 p.m., correctional officers patrolling the perimeter of the treatment center reported a helicopter approaching from south of the facility. Piloted by Clifford Burkhart, a former lover of Whitsett, the helicopter landed inside the fenced compound.[38] While Whitsett was climbing aboard, the helicopter struck an object. As a result of the damage the helicopter crashed about 100 yards south of the perimeter fence. Twenty-six hours from the time of the escape, a Martin County Sheriff's deputy spotted Whitsett and Burkhart from a search helicopter. The two men were in a canal, in shoulder-deep water, four miles east of the treatment facility. For the escape and weapons charges stemming from the escape Whitsett received a criminal sentence of 25 years. Whitsett was awaiting a retrial when his conviction was overturned in 2007. For his part in the escape, Burkhart was sentenced to 7 years, followed by 10 years of probation. Burkhart was released from prison in 2007.[39] |
December 13, 2000 | Lyon prison | ![]() |
Yes | — | Three men were able to escape by having an accomplice fly a hijacked helicopter over the prison. A net was lowered and the three inmates were able to grab hold and lifted to freedom. Guards were able to fatally shoot one of the convicts. The remaining two were recaptured after a gun battle with police.[6] |
January 19, 2001 | Luynes prison | ![]() |
Yes | Pascal Payet | Payet escaped using a hijacked helicopter.[7] |
March 24, 2001 | Draguignan prison | ![]() |
Yes | Abdelhamid Carnous Emile Forma-Sari Jean-Philippe Lecase |
An armed man hijacked a helicopter from a nearby airfield. The pilot was forced to land in the prison courtyard. Three convicts managed to get aboard before flying 60 kilometres (37 mi) away. Landing in the village of Auribeau-sur-Siagne, the pilot was released and the men got into a waiting getaway car. The escapees were later identified as convicted armed robbers.[40] |
May 28, 2001 | Fresnes prison | ![]() |
No | — | (Although not a helicopter escape in the truest sense, it is listed here because of the large role a helicopter played in the incident). A hijacked helicopter flew over the prison and dropped weapons in the exercise yard. Two prisoners armed with a bulletproof vest, an automatic pistol and a Kalashnikov dropped by the helicopter were able to take three guards hostage in an attempt to escape. The hostage drama lasted about 24 hours before the prisoners surrendered.[41] |
January 17, 2002 | Parada Neto Penitentiary | ![]() |
Yes | — | Two men rented a helicopter pretending to be tourists wanting a panoramic ride over Sao Paulo. While in the air they drew guns and forced the pilot to land in the central yard of the prison. The two inmates, who were serving time for murder and bank robbery, jumped aboard, and when the pilot took off again guards opened fire. The helicopter was found abandoned on a football pitch 50 kilometres (31 mi) away full of bullet holes.[42] |
December 30, 2002 | Las Cucharas prison, Ponce, Puerto Rico | ![]() |
Yes | Orlando Cartagena Jose Rodriguez Victor Diaz Hector Diaz Jose Tapia |
Two men rented a helicopter saying they wanted to inspect construction sites. They forced the pilot at gunpoint to land on the roof of the jail where they picked up the five convicts. To reach the roof the inmates cut a hole in the chain link fence. One was forced to hang onto the skids outside the helicopter as there was no room inside. Cartagena was serving a 254-year sentence for murder, Rodriguez was serving 319 years for murder, Victor Diaz was serving 113 years , Hector Diaz was serving 109 years , while Tapia was serving 100 years.
Of the five, only Victor Diaz was not recaptured immediately. The inmates claimed to have killed him soon after the break-out. He later surrendered himself to authorities in January 2003.[43] |
April 4, 2003 | Luynes prison | ![]() |
Yes | Eric Alboreo Franck Perletto Michel Valero |
Pascal Payet organized the helicopter escape of the three men using a hijacked helicopter.[44] Payet himself escaped from the same prison in 2001.[7] He and the three men were later captured but in July 2007 again escaped by helicopter from Grasse prison in south-east France. |
July 2005 | France | ![]() |
No | — | A helicopter escape attempt was foiled when alarms were set off as the helicopter tried to land on the roof.[6] |
December 10, 2005 | Aiton Prison | ![]() |
Yes | Hubert Selles Jean-Claude Moretti Mohamed Bessame |
Two men rented a helicopter under the pretense of using it to do some back-country cross-country skiing. Brandishing guns, the men forced the pilot to land in the prison yard where the three inmates boarded the helicopter. One inmate was serving time for a drugs-related conviction, one for armed robbery and the third for leading a robbery. The helicopter landed in open country near Grenoble where they left the pilot after relieving him of his phone and radio.[6] |
June 6, 2006 | Korydallos Prison | ![]() |
Yes | Vassilis Paleokostas Alket Rizai |
Nikos Paleokostas and another man hijacked a helicopter, forcing it to land on the prison roof. Two convicts scrambled on, Nikos's brother, Vassilis who was sentenced to a 25-year sentence for kidnapping and bank robbery and Rizai, who was serving a life sentence for manslaughter. The helicopter flew to a nearby graveyard from where they fled on motorcycles.[8] |
April 15, 2007 | Lantin Prison, Liège | ![]() |
Yes | Eric Ferdinand | Two men hijacked a small helicopter and forced pilot Eric Mathieu to land in the courtyard to pick up Ferdinand. Earlier the hijackers paid for the flight at an airfield near Sint-Truiden saying they were tourists from Marseilles but eventually pulled out a pistol and grenade. Ferdinand said he landed around 200 inmates. One climbed on board while the hijackers threw tear gas canisters into the crowd. The helicopter then landed less than a half-mile from the prison, where Ferdinand and the two hijackers got in a waiting car and drove off. At the time of his escape, Ferdinand was waiting to be extradited to Spain, from where he had escaped from a jail while serving a sentence for theft, forgery and embezzlement.[45][46][47][48]
Ferdinand was later arrested and was extradited from Italy to Belgium.[49] In February 2008, he was sentenced to six years in prison for the escape. Three of his accomplices also received prison terms.[50] |
July 15, 2007 | Grasse prison | ![]() |
Yes | Pascal Payet | Payet escaped for the third time using a helicopter that was hijacked by four masked men from Cannes – Mandelieu Airport.[7] The helicopter landed some time later at Brignoles, 38 kilometres (24 mi) north-east of Toulon, on the Mediterranean coast.
Payet and his accomplices then fled the scene and the pilot was released unharmed. Payet gained notoriety for using a helicopter in 2001 to escape from Luynes prison and then while still on the run in 2003 organized another escape for fellow inmates from the same prison. Payet had been serving a 30-year sentence for a murder committed during a robbery on a security van.[51] |
October 28, 2007 | Ittre prison | ![]() |
No | Nordin Benallal | Benallal, a self-styled "escape king", arranged accomplices to hijack a helicopter near the prison.[48] However, the helicopter was swarmed by other prisoners, floundered and crashed. Benallal and his cohorts then seized two prison guards as hostages and fled in a car parked nearby. He was arrested again two days later by Dutch police in The Hague.[52]
Benallal was facing over 50 years of jail time and had several convictions for armed robbery, carjacking, and previous escape attempts. He had previously run from a prison van, walked out of jail wearing a wig and sunglasses and scaled a prison wall with a rope ladder.[53] |
February 22, 2009 | Korydallos Prison | ![]() |
Yes | Vasilis Paleokostas Alket Rizai |
The two men escaped from the prison by helicopter. They had escaped in a similar manner during 2006 but they were eventually arrested. Their new prison break took place while their trial for the 2006 helicopter-assisted escape was ongoing. They were transferred to the prison just one day before their new escape, in order to attend their trial.[54] Rizai was recaptured in November 2009.[55] Paleokostas remains at large. |
April 27, 2009 | Domenjod Prison, Réunion | ![]() |
Yes | Juliano Verbard Alexin Jismy Fabrice Michel |
Verbard was the founder of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary religious movement launched in 2002 on the island. He was arrested and jailed 15 years[56] in February 2008 for attacks on children aged nine and 13.[57]
Verbard escaped after three armed accomplices, posing as tourists, hijacked a helicopter and landed in the exercise yard of the prison.[58] He escaped with Jismy and Michel, a father and son duo who were also his followers. Once the three were aboard they took off and landed in a nearby clearing where a van was waiting.[58] The three were recaptured on May 6, 2009.[59] |
July 23, 2009 | Bruges | ![]() |
Yes | Ashraf Sekkaki plus three other criminals | A man hijacked a helicopter and forced its pilot to land in the prison. The helicopter picked up four men including Sekkaki, a 26-year-old convicted bank robber who has been described as one of the most dangerous criminals in Belgium. Sekkaki escaped from another prison in 2003. The escapees then flew to Aalter, then seized a black Mercedes from its female driver and robbed a service station before heading for the Belgian coast.[60] Sekkai was captured in Morocco two weeks later.[61] |
June 25, 2010 | HM Prison Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight | ![]() |
No | Brian Lawrence | While never actually reaching the execution phase of the plan, Lawrence communicated with his collaborators via a code written in "invisible ink" hidden in sudoku puzzles. Officers grew suspicious and eventually discovered the code after the message "more heat less light" was found. The escape attempt was planned during the Isle of Wight Festival where it was thought it would arouse less suspicion.[62] |
March 22, 2012 | Sheksna, Penal colony N17 | ![]() |
Yes | Alexey Shestakov | Shestakov was whisked away from a penal colony on a Mil Mi-2 helicopter hijacked by his accomplices, and re-captured shortly after his escape.[63] |
February 24, 2013 | Trikala Prison, Trikala | ![]() |
No | Panagiotis Vlastos | A chartered helicopter, carrying two armed passengers, a pilot, and a technician, first tried to rip off the chicken-wire fence surrounding the prison with a hook dangling from a rope. When that was unsuccessful, a rope was lowered down to carry away Vlastos. Another prisoner, an unnamed Albanian national in the courtyard at the time, may also have been part of the escape plan.
At the same time, the armed passengers used AK-47 rifles and Uzi submachine guns to fire on the prison guards. One guard, who was inside a post, was slightly injured by shards of flying glass. He and others returned fire, injuring Vlastos, who had managed to climb into the helicopter, as well as the helicopter's technician. Vlastos fell from a height of about 3 meters (10 feet) into the courtyard, and the helicopter was eventually grounded in the parking lot. Prison officials said that they recovered well over 500 bullets fired from the helicopter. The Ministry of Justice added that the helicopter passengers also carried, but did not use, "improvised explosive devices". |
March 17, 2013 | Saint-Jérôme Detention Facility, Quebec | ![]() |
Yes | Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau Danny Provençal |
Two inmates escaped from the prison by clambering up a rope from an awaiting helicopter, which had been hijacked at gunpoint by two accomplices. Upon landing, the two men entered a waiting vehicle, in which they drove to a chalet in the Chertsey area and forced their way in. Local residents reported the incident, and only a few hours later the suspects again drove off, but were soon surrounded by police vehicles, at which point they exited their vehicle and opened fire, with the police returning fire. Fleeing on foot, they were soon captured and the last of the suspects was apprehended overnight. There were no serious injuries reported.[64] |
June 7, 2014 | Orsainville Detention Facility, Quebec | ![]() |
Yes | Yves Denis Denis Lefebvre Serge Pomerleau |
Three detainees awaiting trial for murder escaped from the prison at around 7:45 p.m. ET.[65] The three men were arrested a couple weeks later and returned to the same facility from which they previously escaped.[66] |
February 22, 2016 | Thiva | ![]() |
No | Pola Roupa Nikos Maziotis |
In 2013, Maziotis was convicted in absentia to 50 years in prison for setting up the now-defunct Revolutionary Struggle terrorist group, simple complicity in attempted murder, and a series of attacks claimed by the group. He had been on the run since 2012 and was arrested in July 2014. According to the anti-terrorist squad, the helicopter was leased by a woman who has since been identified by the pilot as Maziotis' wife, Pola Roupa, at Ermionida. The helicopter was supposed to fly to the island of Kythnos after picking up six more passengers. Anti-terror police said that the helicopter was near Athens when Roupa pulled out a gun and told the pilot to redirect the aircraft towards the city. The pilot immediately tried to disarm her, which caused him to lose control of the helicopter and start to lose altitude. During the struggle, Roupa shot at him three times without injuring him. Instead, the bullets pierced the instruments. The pilot managed to land the helicopter at an uninhabited mountainous area near Thiva. Roupa immediately opened the door and ran away.[67] |
July 1, 2018 | Réau, near Paris | ![]() |
Yes | Rédoine Faïd | Faïd was helped by several heavily armed men who created a diversion at the prison entrance while the helicopter landed in the courtyard. The helicopter was hijacked along with the pilot, who was later released unharmed but in shock.[68] |
September 25, 2020 | Forest prison, Brussels | ![]() |
No | Kristel A. | Three armed men hijacked a Eurocopter AS355 helicopter in Antwerp. After take-off from Antwerp Airport, the pilot, a 35-year-old woman, was forced to fly to the women's prison. Unable to land, after more than an hour the pilot was forced to land the helicopter close to a highway carpark near Hélécine, 40 km east of Brussels. The three hijackers escaped, while the pilot afterwards flew the helicopter to the base of the Federal Police Air Support Detachment.[69] Four people were arrested two days later in connection with the hijacking.[70] Mike G., aged 24 from Tongeren, a convicted drug dealer released from jail but still under electronic surveillance, was arrested under the suspicion of having organised the failed prison break of his wife Kristel A., aged 27, who is awaiting trial for murder.[71] |
Escapes in fiction
[edit]Media type | Title | Release date | Succeeded | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
TV | The Prisoner | 1967 | No | The episodes "Arrival" and "The Schizoid Man" feature attempts by Number Six to escape The Village via robotic helicopter. Both attempts end with the helicopters being turned around and Number Six being deposited back into The Village. |
TV | The Protectors | 1972 | Yes | In the episode "Brother Hood" S1 E2, Vladek Sheybal escapes from a Greek prison in a helicopter piloted by Robert Vaughn |
Film | Breakout | 1975 | Yes | Breakout is a 1975 film where Robert Duvall escapes from a Mexican prison in a helicopter piloted by Charles Bronson.[72] |
Book | Superman: Last Son of Krypton | 1979 | No | Near the middle of the book, a philologist named John Lightfoot is sprung from prison by one of Lex Luthor's henchman, but is killed when the helicopter crashes moments later. |
TV | Prisoner | 1984 | Yes | In the Australian soap opera Prisoner, Marie Winter (Maggie Millar) escaped in a 1984 episode by dangling from the landing gear from a helicopter.[73] |
Film | Cry Baby | 1990 | No | In the John Waters film, Cry-Baby (Johnny Depp) is incarcerated after a gang fight between the Drapes and the Squares. Fellow Drape members Milton and Hatchet-Face attempt to free him by landing a helicopter in the prison yard. Their attempt is thwarted by the armed prison guards and the two would be liberators flee the grounds in the rear of a garbage truck. |
Film | Amerikanskaya doch (American Daughter) | 1995 | Yes | In the end of the film Amerikanskaya doch (American Daughter) an adolescent American girl (played by Allison Whitbeck) helps her Russian father Alexei (Vladimir Mashkov) and another inmate escape from the prison using a helicopter. |
TV | Walker, Texas Ranger "Codename: Dragonfly" |
1996 | Yes | In the Walker, Texas Ranger season 4 episode "Codename: Dragonfly", a drug dealer is freed from a prison by an ex-Marine mercenary flying a stolen army stealth helicopter. |
Film | Spy Game | 2001 | Yes | Spy Game is a 2001 drama film, directed by Tony Scott, and starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt who played Tom Bishop. Bishop is rescued from a Chinese prison by a helicopter merely 15 minutes prior to his scheduled execution.[74] |
TV | Walker, Texas Ranger "The Final Showdown" |
2001 | Yes | In the Walker, Texas Ranger season 8 episode "The Final Showdown" (Part 1), the first episode of the two-part series finale, a violent motorcycle gang is sprung from a prison in Huntsville, Texas via a helicopter flown by their leader, who had been declared insane and was subsequently presumed to have died in a fire. |
TV | CSI: Miami "Body Count" |
2003 | Yes | In the CSI:Miami season 1 episode "Body Count" Horatio Caine and his team pursue three inmates who escaped from the Miami Detention Center via a helicopter after another inmate was murdered as a distraction. |
TV | Kurtlar Vadisi "Episode 61" |
2004 | Yes | |
Film | xXx: State of the Union | 2005 | Yes | In the film xXx: State of the Union, the character Darius Stone (played by Ice Cube) escapes the U.S. disciplinary barracks by jumping to a waiting helicopter.[75] |
Video Game | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent | 2006 | Yes | In the video game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent Sam Fisher, working undercover for the NSA helps break Jamie Washington out of Ellsworth Prison in Kansas in order to infiltrate his terrorist organization as a double agent. They escape by staging a prison riot, working their way up to the roof and then hijacking a news reporter's helicopter.[76] |
TV | Prison Break "Bang & Burn" |
2007 | No | The third season of the television series Prison Break features an aborted attempt to escape by helicopter from the fictional Sona prison in Panama.[77] |
Video Game | Saints Row 2 | 2008 | Yes | The protagonist frees a drug trafficker to help take out an enemy gang during the mission "File in the Cake". |
Film | Escape Plan | 2013 | Yes | |
Film | Son of a Gun | 2014 | Yes | |
TV | The Last Panthers "Chimeras" |
2015 | Yes | |
TV | The Blacklist "The Cryptobanker" |
2019 | No | |
Film | Black Widow | 2021 | Yes |
See also
[edit]- List of prison escapes
- List of people who escaped multiple times from prison
- List of prisoner-of-war escapes
- Escape tunnel
- Rescue
- Prison escape
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Chopper escape from Mountjoy". Republican News. 2001. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ a b c "The Helicopter Caper". TIME. June 9, 1986. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
- ^ a b "Whirlaway". TIME. August 30, 1971. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
- ^ [ https://www.la-prensa.com.mx/archivos-secretos/joel-david-kaplan-como-fue-la-fuga-en-helicoptero-de-una-carcel-mexicana-8667313.html Note in Mexican newspaper La Prensa (in Spanish) (Retrieved Monday, June 3, 2024.)]
- ^ a b Eliot Asinof (1973). The 10-Second Jailbreak: The helicopter escape of Joel David Kaplan (1973 ed.). Holt, Rinehart and Winston; 1st edition. p. 268. ISBN 0-03-001011-X.
- ^ a b c d e f Campbell, Matthew (December 11, 2005). "French jailbirds stage yet another helicopter escape". London: Times Online. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2005.
- ^ a b c d "French inmate in second breakout". BBC News. 14 July 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
- ^ a b "Two flee Greek jail in helicopter". BBC News. June 4, 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2006.
- ^ a b c AP (Jul 12, 1988). "3 Escapes caught after copter chase". Toledo Blade. pp. Cover and p.7. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ^ a b c Rothman, Lily (8 June 2015). "The Strange Case of the Non-Criminal Jail Break". TIME. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
- ^ St. Joseph News-Press (December 21, 1978). "Plane Hijacked". St. Joseph News-Press. News-Press & Gazette Company. Front Page. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
- ^ Les évasions françaises en hélicoptère depuis la première en 1981; http://www.helico-fascination.com/flash/1109-les-evasions-francaises-en-helicoptere-depuis-la-premiere-en-1981.html
- ^ "David Peter McMillan". melbourne crime. 2007. Archived from the original on May 5, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald; Date: Jan 21, 1983
- ^ "Woman plucks 3 from jail". The Irish Times. 21 December 1985. p. 5.
- ^ "Pilot Forced to Land at S. Carolina Institution : Inmates Flee Prison Aboard Helicopter". Los Angeles Times. 20 December 1985. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ Clendinen, Dudley (December 23, 1985). "Suspects in Helicopter Jailbreak Are Caught at Georgia Rest Stop". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
- ^ Entini, Carlos Eduardo (February 27, 2014). "Fuga de Escadinha causou surpresa pela audácia". O Estado de S. Paulo. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
- ^ a b c Hone, Kathryn (17 June 1993). "Prison foils helicopter escape bid". The Irish Times. p. 11.
- ^ "Around the nation; Woman Escapes Prison In a Hijacked Helicopter". New York Times. November 6, 1986. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ Herbert, David Gauvey (2020-12-08). "The Ballad of Ron and Dorinda". Esquire. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
- ^ "Lovers Sentenced in Escape From Prison in a Helicopter". The New York Times. July 19, 1987. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ "Headliners; Back in the Arms of the Law". New York Times. November 23, 1986. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ "Inmate Locator — Locate Federal inmates from 1982 to present". Federal Bureau of Prisons. 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ Associated Press (November 24, 1986). "Copter Hijacked, 2 Freed From Prison in Rome". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
- ^ "La storia dell'evasione in elicottero da Rebibbia". Il Post (in Italian). 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
- ^ "Helicopter escape still remembered 19 years on". Johnston Press Digital Publishing. October 3, 2006. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ Kennedy, J. Michael (July 12, 1988). "Two Inmates Recaptured After Chases in Air, on Ground : Three Escape New Mexico Prison in Helicopter". Times Staff Writer. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ^ a b "United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. — 943 F.2d 1543". United States courts of appeals. October 11, 1991. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ "Helicopter Crash Foils Drug Smuggler's Prison Escape". Los Angeles Times. 1989-04-18.
- ^ Associated Press (August 19, 1989). "2 Women in a Helicopter Free 2 Convicts, but All Are Caught". New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ "Dramatic prison escape in Puerto Rico". BBC News. December 31, 2002. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ "Chile seeks help over jail break". The Irish Times. 5 June 1997. p. 2.
- ^ "Helicopter pilot dies in Dutch prison escape bid". Media Awareness Project. September 18, 1997. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
- ^ Ellen Connolly (July 21, 2001). "Lucy in the sky with convict lands seven years in jail". Irish Examiner. Retrieved May 14, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Mastermind of helicopter jailbreak freed early". The Sydney Morning Herald. May 9, 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
- ^ "John Killick walks free from prison in Queensland after more than 20 years in jail following helicopter jail break". news.com.au. January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
- ^ Andrew Goldstein (June 11, 2000). "The Boy Who Loved Me". TIME. Archived from the original on January 28, 2001. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
- ^ "Report No. 99-58 — Special Review Escape from Martin Treatment Center for Sexually Violent Predators" (PDF). Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
- ^ "Helicopter escape from French prison". BBC News. March 24, 2001. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
- ^ Associated Press (28 May 2001). "Guards freed in prison hostage drama". The Independent. London. Retrieved May 4, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "Helicopter escape from Brazil prison". BBC News. January 17, 2002. Retrieved 17 January 2002.
- ^ Associated Press (December 30, 2002). "Helicopter swoops down to Puerto Rican prison, flies away with five escaping prisoners". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ "Les évadés de la prison de Luynes arrêtés dans la Drôme". investigateur.info. May 10, 2003. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
- ^ "Audacious Belgian jail escape". ITN (Independent Television News Limited). April 16, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Hijacked helicopter reportedly used in Belgian jail break". USA Today. 2007-04-15. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
- ^ "Helicopter used in prison break. Pilot says two men hijacked craft at gunpoint". NBC News. April 15, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
- ^ a b "Jailbreak sparks Belgium outcry". BBC News. 30 October 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
- ^ French - "Erik Ferdinand, l'évadé de Lantin, de retour en Belgique". Le Vif. September 22, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ French - "6 ans de prison pour s'être évadé de Lantin en hélicoptère". Le Vif. February 28, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Killer stages second helicopter prison break". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). July 15, 2007. Archived from the original on July 17, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2007.
- ^ Agence France-Presse (October 31, 2007). "Escape artist nabbed after spectacular prison break". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
A notorious criminal, who escaped from a Belgian prison after a hijacked helicopter crash-landed inside the prison grounds, has been recaptured in The Hague after a hold-up.
- ^ Richard Holt and Matthew Moore (November 2, 2007). "Belgian Ronnie Biggs' captured robbing shop". London: Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
- ^ "Duo's Second Prison Escape Embarrasses Greek Officials". NYTimes. February 22, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "Alket Rizai arrested". GR Reporter. November 16, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "Cult leader escapes jail in helicopter". BBC News. April 27, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
- ^ correspondents in Saint Denis (April 27, 2009). "Pedophile cult leader Juliano Verbard escapes from Reunion prison". The Sunday Times. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Idris Issa (April 27, 2009). "Cult leader escapes from French jail in helicopter". FRANCE 24. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
- ^ "Escaped cult leader re-captured". BBC News. 6 May 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ^ "Three escape Belgian jail in hijacked helicopter". Reuters. July 24, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
- ^ "Moroccan police capture Ashraf Sekkaki". Flandersnews. August 9, 2009. Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
- ^ "Prison break foiled by sharp officers". Iwcp. June 25, 2010. Archived from the original on June 28, 2010.
- ^ Parfitt, Tom (March 22, 2012). "Murderer escapes from prison by helicopter". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ News, CBC (March 17, 2013). "Quebec manhunt on for fugitives who fled prison in helicopter". CBC News. Saint-Jérôme.
{{cite news}}
:|last=
has generic name (help) - ^ "Quebec police search for 3 inmates after helicopter jailbreak". CBC News. Quebec. June 7, 2014.
- ^ "Escapees in Canadian Helicopter Jailbreak Captured". CNN. 22 June 2014.
- ^ "Helicopter pilot foils hijack attempt, part of an escape plan for convicted terrorist".
- ^ Redoine Faid: Paris helicopter prison break for gangster. BBC News. 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Armed men hijack helicopter in Antwerp, Belgium; pilot has to fly above Brussels prison". Aviation24. September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ "Arrests after helicopter jail-break attempt". vrtNWS. September 27, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ "Helicopter hijack: Arrested men planned to rescue murder suspect". brusselstimes. September 27, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ "Breakout". Yahoo.com. May 14, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ "Prisoner: Cell Block H". maggiemillar.net. 2009. Archived from the original on September 2, 2002. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ "Spy Game — Brad Pitt as Tom Bishop". bradpittnow.com. 2009. Archived from the original on December 22, 2010. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ Mickey Ellison (July 7, 2005). "xXx: State of the Union — DVD". Filmhobbit. Cinema Blend LLC. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ "Splinter Cell: Double Agent". IMDb. October 20, 2006. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
- ^ "Bang and Burn". prisonbreakmanhunt. November 19, 2007. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.