Trio break out of Belgium prison in helicopter

[Libertas1776]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Three prisoners -- including one considered to be among Belgium's most dangerous criminals -- have broken out of a prison near Bruges in a daring helicopter escape. Thursday's jailbreak prompted Interpol to issue an international alert to police around the world to be on the lookout for the men.
Accomplices of the three inmates hijacked a helicopter and forced the pilot to land in the prison courtyard, Interpol said.

The fugitives are Mohammed Johry, Abdel Had Kahjary Mulloul and Ashraf Sekkaki. Sekkaki is considered one of Belgium's most dangerous criminals, Interpol said, with more than 16 convictions for violence, including bank robbery and kidnapping.
Belga identified the helicopter pilot as Ludwig Louwagie and said he was unhurt.
"It was just like in a film," Louwagie told the news agency.
He said a couple had booked a sightseeing tour of the Bruges region Thursday afternoon. While in flight, the man suddenly pressed a weapon against his temple, Louwagie told Belga.
The man took away his headset so the pilot couldn't talk to ground control and forced Louwagie to land in the prison courtyard, he said.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/07/24/belgium.helicopter.prison.escape/index.html

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Escape by helicopter? Haven't these people ever heard of laundry trucks.

[rcrush]

1. Thats how I am going to escape prison except with more explosions.

[mikelgb]

2. wow

[YOY]

3. Here I thought it might have been that Blofeld character...

[aquart]

4. I saw this movie.

[Blue_Tires]

5. wasn't there a similar jailbreak in Greece a couple weeks back?

[Soylent Brice]

10. foiled attempt.

[MADem]

6. "It was just like in a film," Louwagie told the news agency.

Only Wikipedia would have a detailed entry on this very "using a helo to escape from jail" topic!

One of the earliest instances of using a helicopter to escape a prison was the escape of Joel David Kaplan on August 19, 1971 from the Santa Martha Acatitla in Mexico.<5> Kaplan was a New York businessman who successfully not only escaped the prison but escaped Mexico and went on to write a book about his experience, The 10-second jailbreak.<6> France has had more recorded helicopter escapes than any other country, with at least 11.<7> 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 new found skills, she rented a white helicopter and flew low over Paris to pluck her husband off the roof of his fortress prison. Michel was later seriously wounded in a shoot out with police, and his pilot wife was arrested.<2> The record for most chopper escapes goes to escape artist, Pascal Payet, who has used helicopters to escape from prisons in 2001, 2003, and most recently 2007.<8> Another multiple chopper escapee is Vasilis Paleokostas who on February 22, 2009 escaped for the second time from the same prison.<9> Because of this, many prisons have taken precautions such as nets, or cables strung over open prison courtyards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_helicopter_prison_escapes

[pinniped]

7. They need to install some AAA.

That will teach them a lesson.

[sasquatch]

8. Uh-oh, I see a "based on a true story by Michael Bay" production coming out of this

[damntexdem]

9. See, it's a mistake to let prisoners keep helicopters in their cells.