Updated 5:52 AM EDT, Mon March 18, 2013
Inmate who escaped by copter captured
The spectacular, airborne
escape of two Canadian inmates Sunday stunned witnesses and showcased the illicit ingenuity behind one of the more creative styles of prison breaks.
A dramatic daylight jailbreak involving two Quebec inmates climbing a rope into a hovering helicopter swiftly escalated into a large police operation on Sunday which saw both men tracked down hours after they fled.
Just before 8:30 p.m. ET, police confirmed they had arrested Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau and two other suspects.
An hour later, police said they had located the second escapee, Danny Provencal, and had set up a perimetre around the area where he was found.
Much of the action took place in Chertsey, Que., located about 50 kilometres north of the jail in Saint-Jérôme from where the inmates made their brazen escape. "We have a lot of officers working on the site," said provincial police spokesman Benoit Richard.
Police wouldn't give any details about how the arrests were made or about the charges facing those who were arrested.
"They are all being transported to the nearest police station to be questioned by the investigators," Richard said of those in custody.
But while astonishing, helicopter escapes are not unheard of. For decades, crafty inmates have fled into the sky -- some with more success than others.
Here are five epic helicopter escapes:
1. The French lovebirds
Nadine Vaujour was so determined to get her husband out of prison she took helicopter flight lessons just for the escape.
Her husband, Michel Vaujour, was serving a lengthy sentence for attempted murder and armed robbery. In May 1986, he forced his way to the roof of a Parisian prison by
wielding nectarines painted as grenades.
His wife then picked him up in the helicopter and fled to a football field, where they drove away. But their luck soon ran out.
Nadine Vaujour was discovered and arrested in southwestern France, and Michel was
shot in the head during a failed bank robbery.
2. The American in Mexico
In 1971, Joel David Kaplan hopped on a chopper in a Mexican prison yard, never to return again.
Kaplan, who was convicted for the death of his business partner in Mexico City, always insisted he was innocent.
The New Yorker's daring escape inspired the book "The 10-Second Jailbreak: The Helicopter Escape of Joel David Kaplan" and the 1975 movie "Breakout."
3. The frequent flier
Pascal Payet holds the record for planning the most number of escapes by helicopter, according to the
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
The Frenchman first used a helicopter to flee from a Luynes prison in 2001.
Two years later, while still a fugitive, he helped inmates from the same prison escape by chopper.
He was eventually caught, but then escaped for the third time from another prison using a helicopter hijacked by four men.
Payet and his accomplices fled, and the pilot was not harmed.
4. The Belgian flock
When Nordin Ben Allal dreamed up his escape, he didn't mean for others to join him.
In 2007, when Ben Allal's accomplices landed at a Belgian prison, other inmates tried to jump on board.
The chopper spun out of control, injuring the pilot and several of the prisoners,
The Telegraph reported.
Ben Allal managed to escape -- only to get recaptured.
5. The Greek foil
In February, accomplices swooped over a prison in Greece and tried to whisk away convicted murderer Panagiotis Vlastos with a rope.
The accomplices reportedly unleashed
a hailstorm of bullets from AK-47 assault rifles toward prison guards, who fired back.
Vlastos was shot, and the chopper eventually landed on the prison parking lot.
Sky's No Limit: 5 Epic Helicopter Prison Escapes
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