List of helicopter prison escapes

Columns: Date | Prison name | Country | Succeeded | Escapee ( s ) | Details
December 31 , 1985 | Cândido Mendes penitentiary , Ilha Grande , Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | Yes | José Carlos dos Reis Encina , a.k.a . Escadinha | Drug lord Encina 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 | May 26 , 1986 | Prison de la Santé | France | 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 . They landed at a nearby football pitch and fled in a waiting car . Paris-Match published amateur photos of the escape , which was made into a film starring Béatrice Dalle in 1991 | November 5 , 1986 | Federal Correctional Institution , Dublin | United States | Yes | Samantha Lopez | Ronald J. McIntosh walked away from a minimum security prison on October 28 and then rented a helicopter on November 5 . He used the helicopter to free Samantha Lopez from the Federal Correctional Institution at Dublin , east of San Francisco . 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 . Ron McIntosh for his role in the escape was sentenced to 25 years in prison . Samantha Lopez was given five years added to her 50-year sentence for a 1981 bank robbery in Georgia . 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 . Samantha Lopez was released from prison on 20 April 2010 | November 23 , 1986 | Prigione di Rebibbia , Roma | Italy | Yes | André Bellaïche Gianluigi Esposito Luciano Cipollari | A red cross helicopter was hijacked by two gunmen and forced to fly to the maximum-security Rebibbia Prison courtyard . The pilot hovered the helicopter three feet off the courtyard ground while around 50 inmates were exercising . While the hijackers laid covering fire , three inmates tried to board the helicopter . One escapee , Andre Bellaiche , 36 , was a Tunisian-born Frenchman who was in jail for murder and bank robbery . The other escapee , Gianluigi Esposito , 30 , was an arms smuggler accused of providing weapons to Italian terrorists . The third man , Luciano Cipollari , 24 , an Italian extradited from France in 1985 for murder , slipped and fell preventing him from escaping . The helicopter flew to a nearby soccer field scattering an ongoing game . The men ran out of the helicopter and hijacked a car to escape . They later managed to flee Italy , but police was able to track them down and they were both arrested again on 13 13 , 1986 . Esposito later revealed that he had intentionally prevented Cipollari from boarding , because he was just 2 years away from being released | December 10 , 1987 | Gartree ( HM Prison ) | United Kingdom | Yes | Sydney Draper John Kendall | At 3:16 p.m. on December 10 , 1987 , John Kendall and Sydney 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 . 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 | Santa Fe prison | United States | Yes | Mahoney Danny 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 she pulled a gun and forced him to land in the courtyard of the Santa Fe prison . 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 . Two of the prisoners , Francis Mitchell and Randy Lackey , were captured almost right away while Danny Mahoney was later captured with assistance from a canine unit | April 17 , 1989 | Federal Holding Facility , Miami , FL | United States | No | Ben Kramer | Famous Apache Boat owner and racer Ben Kramer tried to escape by helicopter from the Metropolitan Correctional Center , a Federal Prison ( holding ) in Southwest Miami on April 17 , 1989 . The escape failed when the rookie pilot , Charles Clayton Stevens , hovered 12 inches off the ground in a very tight space ( 200'long by 50 ' wide ) . When the 6'-2 , 240 lb Kramer jumped into the small two seater Bell 47 D-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 pilot and escapee sustained extensive injuries . Ben 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

Example questions:
Which prisoner attempted to escape from the Federal Holding Facility in Miami in a helicopter ? | What was the name of the prisoner who escaped from Rio Piedras State Penitentiary in Puerto Rico in a helicopter ? | Which prison did Seamus Twomey escape from in a helicopter ? | What was the name of the prisoner who escaped from prison in a helicopter on June 17 , 1993 ?

Answers:
Ben Kramer | William Lane | Mountjoy Jail | Michel Vaujour