Michel wasn’t new to prison. By 1985, he was serving an 18-year sentence for bank robbery and attempted murder. But sitting in a cell wasn’t his style; he wanted out. Lucky for him, his wife, Nadine Vaujour, had a plan that could have been ripped straight from an action movie. She just needed to become a pilot first.

What, like it’s hard?

Nadine Vaujour wasn’t one to sit back and wait. While Michel planned from behind bars, she got to work on the outside. She signed up for helicopter pilot lessons, paying in cash and keeping a low profile. Twice a month, she rented aircraft from a small company in southern Paris. No one questioned her. No one suspected Nadine Vaujour was training for one of the boldest prison breaks in French history.

Meanwhile, Michel and his cellmate, Pierre Hernandez, studied the layout of the notorious Prison de la Santé. They realized a helicopter couldn’t land inside. No problem: they adjusted the plan. If they couldn’t bring the helicopter down, they would go up to meet it.

May 26, 1986. 10:30 a.m. Nadine Vaujour piloted a helicopter over central Paris. Air traffic controllers shouted warnings. She ignored them. She hovered above the prison as chaos erupted below. Guards were on high alert, but their focus wasn’t on the roof. Word spread that inmates had grenades. In reality, they were just small oranges painted green, ReadingOlive recounts.

Michel and Pierre stormed onto the roof. Pierre hesitated. Michel didn’t. He grabbed onto the chopper as Nadine kept it steady. Pierre lost his nerve and surrendered. Michel and Nadine soared over the city and landed in a nearby athletic field. A getaway car was waiting. Within minutes, they vanished.

For months, they stayed under the radar. At one point, they pulled off another daring move: Picking up their daughters while police watched. But for all their careful planning, they made one major misstep: They never left Paris.

Three months after the escape, police caught up with the pilot and fugitive

But not at some hideout. Not while laying low. They were robbing another bank. A shootout erupted. Michel took a bullet to the head and somehow survived. Nadine was arrested, sentenced, but let out early.

In 2003, after 27 years behind bars, Michel finally walked free. He later wrote a memoir, “Love Saved Me from Sinking.” While Michel’s story is certainly unique and in many ways heartwrenching (he discovered yoga during high-security isolation without natural sunlight), Nadine Vaujour’s helicopter pilot antics are truly one for the books.