In an incident that almost sounds like a movie plot, Nadine Vaujour learned to fly, rented a helicopter, and swept over the walls of a prison to lift her husband to freedom. It was a real-life heist that ironically ended exactly where it began: Behind bars.
In May 1986, 32-year-old Nadine pulled off one of the most daring prison breaks France had ever seen. Her husband, Michel Vaujour, was serving an 18-year sentence for armed robbery at La Santé Prison in Paris. While most couples exchange letters, Nadine spent months taking flying lessons. She wasn’t a pilot or a criminal. But she was in love and determined to bring her husband home.
On May 26, Nadine walked into a small flight club outside Paris, rented a white helicopter under pretenses, and took off. At around 10:30 am, the chopper hovered over central Paris and reached the thick prison walls as stunned guards scrambled. Michel was ready with his buddy Pierre Hernandez inside and raced across the roof.
The two had also plotted false reports of inmates with grenades (which were actually just green-painted nectarines). So, the guards didn’t fire a single shot. Nadine then dipped the helicopter low enough for Michel to grab hold and maneuvered the plane straight out of the prison yard. While Pierre had chickened out at the last moment, Nadine successfully escorted her husband out of prison.
By the time police launched their chase, the couple had vanished into the Paris skyline. They landed at a nearby athletic field and took off in a waiting car. France’s media exploded, but the couple were ghosts for a few months. They hid in the French countryside, living off small robberies and sleeping in safe houses. Nadine’s daring stunt made her a cult hero to some and a national scandal to others.
While Nadine symbolized devotion pushed to insanity, the fruits of this insane stunt didn’t last long. In Sept. 1986, police tracked the pair after they attempted another robbery at a bank. During a gunfight, Michel was shot in the head but miraculously survived. The couple was arrested right after.
Nadine, who once helped her husband escape prison, now landed at the same place herself. While Michel was sentenced to 16 more years in prison, Nadine was sentenced to just two years. After serving her sentence, she reportedly returned to quiet civilian life. The two also divorced sometime in the 1990s, and Michel remarried a woman named Jamila and was freed in 2003.
Nadine published her daring story in 1989 with her novel La Fille de l’air, and Michel soon followed the lead too. He penned an autobiography, titled “Love Saved Me From Sinking,” sharing lessons of patience, love, and yoga. While their love story has become a thing of the past, it is remembered as one of France’s most sensational love-and-crime tales. It was equal parts romantic tragedy and absurd comedy.
