On May 26, 1986, Nadine Vaujour flew a rented helicopter, flew to the Le Sante prison in Paris and broke out her husband Michel Vaujour who was serving a sentence for armed robbery. A few minutes after the escape, the helicopter landed in an athletic field in southern Paris and the couple set off in a waiting car. Nadine had earned her private pilot license specifically for the prison break.
Michel Vaujour was no stranger to prison life. In 1985, he was slapped with an 18-year sentence for bank robbery and attempted murder. But prison bars couldn't hold back his dreams of freedom. Lucky for him, his wife Nadine had a plan that was straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster.
Nadine wasn’t your average housewife. As soon as Michel was arrested, she decided to take action. She enrolled in helicopter piloting classes, and soon enough, she was a regular at a helicopter rental company in southern Paris. The owner must have been asleep at the wheel, as Nadine paid in cash and rented helicopters twice a month without raising any eyebrows.
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| Nadine Vaujour in a helicopter |
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| Michel and Nadine Vaujour |
Inside the notorious Prison De La Santé, Michel and his buddy Pierre Hernandez scoped out the grounds. They hit a snag when they realized there was no room for a helicopter to land. So, they tweaked their plan.
On May 26, 1986, at 10:30 a.m., Nadine flew a helicopter over central Paris, ignoring frantic radio warnings. She hovered above the prison roof, while chaos erupted inside. Michel and Pierre burst through a door, racing across the roof. The guards, distracted by reports of inmates with grenades (actually nectarines painted green), didn't fire a single shot.
Michel climbed into the helicopter, but Pierre lost his nerve and surrendered. Nadine flew them to safety, landing in a nearby athletic field where they jumped into a waiting car. They evaded capture for months, even snatching their daughters from under police surveillance.
The couple’s hideout was right back in Paris. Bold or foolish, they stayed in the city where they had just staged a daring escape. Three months later, they were caught not opening a charming coffee shop but robbing a bank—again. In the shootout that followed, Michel took a bullet to the head but survived. He was soon back in prison, his sixth escape attempt with a new accomplice, Jamila, ending in failure.
Remarkably, in 2003, Michel was freed after 27 years. Now 69, he penned an autobiography, “Love Saved Me From Sinking,” sharing lessons of patience, love, and yoga. But let’s not forget Nadine—the fearless wife who quite literally took their love to new heights.
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