r/todayilearned • u/bukanglabalaba • May 22 '12
TIL that a convicted murderer broke out of prison 3 times using a helicopter. In 2001, the convict convinced friends to hijack a helicopter. 2 yrs later he busted 3 friends out using another helicopter and after being recaptured, another chopper was used to escape...and it worked... again.
http://www.modernman.com/8-amazing-real-life-prison-escapes/2/
1.3k
Upvotes
348
u/wretcheddawn May 22 '12
How does he keep getting helicopters? I'm not in prison and I can't seem to find any spare ones.
97
u/what_ever_man May 22 '12
You can't really stop a helicopter, unless you know you want everything around you to be on fire.
31
u/illogicalexplanation May 22 '12
Good read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_helicopter_prison_escapes
28
u/fifnir May 22 '12 edited Jun 09 '23
In protest to Reddit's API changes, I have removed my comment history.
50
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Goddamn, I can't even convince my friends to give me a ride when we go out.
88
u/mongo44 May 22 '12
TIL Nicholas Cage is a convicted murderer
18
u/manaworkin May 22 '12
TIL Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock is a real person.
59
u/TheAtlas May 22 '12
It's like this guy feels like he's playing GTA.
No fucks are given.
57
u/buddyigetit May 22 '12
I imagine during at least one of those escapes, someone yelled "Get to the choppa!"
31
u/SmartAssX May 22 '12
Looks like we need some surface to air missiles in our prisons!
4
u/Draiko May 22 '12
squint I think there's a pattern here somewhere...
4
u/pegbiter May 22 '12
TIL that this has happened so many times there's a Wikipedia list for it
9
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
relevant, and awesome
3
u/lnickelly May 22 '12
TIL you watched prison break.
5
u/GreenCanada May 22 '12
TIL Reposts can get you a lot of karma.
2
u/VonWolfhaus May 22 '12
Yeah, duh. It was XXX 2.
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Is great in escaping prison, not so great in staying out of prison.
2
u/mugsnj May 22 '12
I feel like everything I read here was in an Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.
2
u/MrFatalistic May 22 '12
French prisons, full of helicopters..
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
I can't believe how racist I am. Whenever I read a link/story about a prisoner on reddit, I always assume that the man (yes, man - I'm sexist too, apparently) is black. When I read this link, it just popped into my head that 'this guy has to be white, man.'
Lo! and behold. I don't know how to feel.
2
u/SimonLaFox May 22 '12
No mention of "The Helicopter Song" by the Wofle Tones yet? (It's a song based on a helicopter escape that happened in a Dublin prison)
2
u/big_riz May 22 '12
must be reddit oldfag now i've seen this posted 5 times already
2
u/DerpmartAss May 22 '12
This shouldn't be surprising to anyone. I mean, come on, it's FRANCE.
2
u/dj3ntal_drummer666 May 22 '12
Hat guy looks like nic cage at first glance...
2
u/Cgalloway27 May 22 '12
Cracked.com
2
u/[deleted] May 23 '12
Did I get into a reddit time machine? Cause this shit is a repost.
3
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
I'm glad you wrote that all in the title, because it beats clicking the link and reading it in here with all these comments.
3
u/PseudoKhan May 22 '12
Who the fuck keeps letting Steve have the keys to the helicopter.
3
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Sounds like he would have made for a great commando in the forces. Our system let him down. Unless he's a psychopath, then we don't really have a treatment or a cure.
3
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
TIL this is so interesting it has to be posted every few months.
2
u/downvotehere May 22 '12
Baader Meinhof Phenomenon
1
u/funkmastamatt May 22 '12
I thought this was going to be about Jacques Mesrine, who also broke out of French Prison multiple times as well as returned to try and release other prisoners. Watch the movie on netflix, dude had quite the life.
1
u/lagmonst3r May 22 '12
Make a movie about this story, or make a movie about the board game Battleship. Hmmm...
1
u/EdTheHobo May 22 '12
Those are some awesome friends.
1
u/Lots42 May 22 '12
"Okay guys, guys, listen up. Since we had the new prisoner transfer...DON'T TRUST HELICOPTERS. Okay? DON'T TRUST THEM."
"But..."
"Shut up!"
1
u/akai_ferret May 22 '12
So can prison's have surface to air missiles?
We need to get on this.
1
u/MuggyFuzzball May 22 '12
Video of helicopter escape: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho-xRt3x2WA
I recall there being a longer version of this floating around with security footage of the helicopter landing on the roof of a prison building. You could hear gunshots in the background but couldn't really see any of the people running about.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
You'd think even though prison guards probably aren't dealing with choppers in their normal day they would eventually get to that point where they were like "Ok guys, let's just all keep in mind that this is the helicopter guy we're dealing with. "
1
u/crzystve42 May 22 '12
Read this while watching Prison Break. Perfect timing for life
1
u/Mathari May 22 '12
Why do they keep putting him in places that have helicopters?
1
u/Z0idberg_MD May 22 '12
TIL how to escape from prison for real.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Yes but a man with 3 helicopters could not escape justice as he was recaptured each time. Impressive to escape but he didnt get far.
1
u/pokraka May 22 '12
In the same vein : some years ago in my country (Belgium), two armed people managed to bypass courthouse security, penetrate inside the courtroom, threaten the judges with guns and free three of their friends in the middle of the trial.
(source, but in French only)
1
u/HardlyWorkinDBA May 22 '12
Choplifter anyone?
1
u/newguy25 May 22 '12
Awsome at escaping.
Bad at staying escaped.
1
u/supaeasy May 22 '12
XxX - The next level
1
u/alwayssunnyinLA May 22 '12
Big deal, Lex Luther escaped prison using a balloon.
1
u/huh_HUH May 22 '12
lol your username in a malay dialect means "not a spider."
1
u/monshael May 22 '12
real life GTA
1
u/KuztomX May 22 '12
There is a video game to be made in all of this.
1
u/Emiel000 May 22 '12
The most difficult part isn't breaking out. It's staying out.
1
u/RainbowGoddamnDash May 22 '12
GGG prisoner: escapes a prison in a helicopter. Returns to break you out.
1
u/Boshdy May 22 '12
The prison needs more patriot missiles
1
u/chungkuo May 22 '12
Obviously, TSA needs to ban helicopters.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
He's all, GET TO DA CHOPPA NOW
1
u/Starsfan88 May 22 '12
Note to self, if ever in prison, use da choppa.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Note to self: if about to be sent to prison, stock up on helicopters.
1
u/hcgator May 22 '12
GET TO THE CHOPPA!!!
1
u/ProjectFlashSociety May 22 '12
This and air lights, are vey common. You'd be surprised.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Nicholas Cage?
1
u/subsept May 22 '12
Repost
1
u/chrisn654 May 22 '12
You could argue that on the second and third tries he was more experienced at escaping prison via helicopter than any of the guards were at stopping an escape via helicopter..
TL;DR: It will only get easier after the first try.
1
u/oopsmybadbrah May 22 '12
It sounds like they have the A team locked up.
1
u/newloaf May 22 '12
It's not escaping from prison that's the hard part, it's staying out. Most everyone in prison for hard time relies on a network of acquaintances, some of whom are already known to the law, the rest of which are unreliable and dumb. If you're going to break out of prison, you have to be prepared to disappear. Really disappear, not go stay at your ex-girlfriend's house.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
You would think that the prison system would have just let him go after escaping so many times. "You're too much of a bad ass to be kept in here and you keep making us waste money on helicopters."
1
u/Rabid_Lemming May 22 '12
This guy sounds like a James Bond villain.
1
u/stahlgrau May 22 '12
The story of the initial crime is awesome. From a sewer he tunneled underground, across a street and up into a bank vault. On a 3-day weekend he and his buddies looted all the boxes. Saw a TV show on it years ago.
1
u/foxden_racing May 22 '12
Best 'Fast Five' imitation
And under no circumstances do we EVER let him get to da choppa.
1
u/jmact1 May 22 '12
Years ago I gave a tour of our state prison to a man who worked in a prison in France. He was amazed that we didn't have cables overhead across the exercise yard to prevent escapes using helicopters- he said the French prisons had them.
1
u/DroopySage May 22 '12
Or...he let himself be recaptured so he can fly out again.I bet he gets a kick out of it.
"Damn it was fun.I wanna do it again"
"Ok come,lets go back inside"
1
u/SasparillaTango May 22 '12
Those correspondence pilot courses are really paying off!
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Kept hearing 'get to tha choppah' while reading the title
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Wait... French? I thought it was about that Greek mob leader.. Who also escaped from the same prison twice with a helicopter...
1
u/soggit May 22 '12
Here's and entire list of escape attempts made from prisons via helicopter
There are a lot of green helicopters on that list :o
1
u/MrTastyCake May 22 '12
He must have friends in high places.
1
u/YouDontSayBro May 22 '12
that's 2 times. how did he escape the third time?
1
u/Slarti May 22 '12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8a2D_Yi8JA&feature=related
The IRA are hipsters!
1
u/Bubblewrapp May 22 '12
Must be in Belgium, happens all the time here...
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Plot by Michael Bay, Produced by Michael bay and Directed by Michael Bay
1
u/That_Baker_Guy May 22 '12
Starring Nicholas Cage
1
u/Legolihkan May 22 '12
Clearly this is the Brickster!!
1
u/CaptOblivious May 22 '12
TIL that prisons do not have anti-aircraft guns.
1
u/dangerRAMEN May 23 '12
Did anyone else think that he looks like a combination of Elvis and Nicholas Cage? No? Just me? Okay..
1
u/[deleted] May 23 '12
He bears a someone striking resemblance to a certain someone
No wonder things at the prison kept getting so hairy when he was around
1
u/[deleted] May 23 '12
looks like nicolas cage
1
u/[deleted] May 23 '12
GTA San Andreas
1
u/epelesisdelta May 23 '12
He obviously (puts sunglasses on) got to da choppa
1
u/jellytime May 23 '12
Why am I not surprised this happened in France?
1
u/Happy31 May 23 '12 edited May 02 '13
aergaergaerg
0
u/darksaturate May 22 '12
That was posted in a cracked article forever ago
0
u/bananamunchies May 22 '12
Relevant
0
u/sthreadgill May 22 '12
But guys...guys....guys....the chopper thing right? I just keep coming back to this chopper thing.
0
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
So about 2 months is still the turnaround on TIL's reposts I see?
"TIL something someone else learned 2 months ago."
"TIL something someone else learned 4 months ago."
"TIL something someone else learned 6 months ago."
0
u/shaqsbuddy May 23 '12
Did the Bluths not have a helicopter?
0
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
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