2 Prisoners Make 'James Bond' Helicopter Escape

Canadian police recapture both men
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 18, 2013 2:03 AM CDT
2 Prisoners Make 'James Bond' Helicopter Escape
Two inmates escaped from prison via helicopter.   (Shutterstock)

Two men made a daring daylight escape from a Canadian prison yesterday, using ropes dangling from a hijacked helicopter. A helicopter arrived at the prison near Montreal; as it hovered, "two of the inmates came out and appeared to attach themselves to cables that were attached to the helicopter," said a CTV reporter. "The helicopter then took off with these two men suspended underneath and it flew away, much to the surprise and astonishment of everyone in the area." A witness called it a "James Bond moment."

The helicopter had apparently been hijacked from a tour company by two other men. The hijackers reportedly held the pilot at gunpoint and told him to head to the prison, CNN notes. Now, the escapees have been recaptured and two others arrested after a major manhunt, the BBC reports. One of the men, Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau, was in prison in an attempted murder case, while the other man, Danny Provencal, had been convicted of crimes ranging from arson to forcible confinement. Following the escape, a man claiming to be Hudon-Barbeau told reporters: "I know that (the escape) wasn't the best thing to do, but I didn't want to stay in prison anymore. I am ready to die." (More prison stories.)

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