Prison break: A French hijacked helicopter pilot speaks of a terrifying ordeal

The men quickly made a spectacular helicopter escape in an operation that lasted only 10 minutes.

The pilot of this helicopter, Stéphane Buy, told his story on French radio on Wednesday.

Buy described as a "normal day", saying that his two "students" "aged about 50 and a little over 20 years" respectively arrived as scheduled at 9:30.

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It was his second lesson with them, believing that it was "a father who wanted to make his son happy" with flying lessons.

"We talked about what we would do, fly over and see," he said.

But while he was approaching his helicopter R44 Robinson, which he planned to take with him, the two men told him that they would rather steal the aircraft. Alouette II, which was slightly larger.

"I told them that I could not take this helicopter, he was not ready, he had been borrowed and he did not have enough fuel," he said.

Photo: Screengrab LCI

Suddenly, Buy said, everything changed.

"They were aggressive and forced me to take the other helicopter," he said.

"They said my family was in danger," he said. and who threatened me. I did what they said. "

Once the helicopter took off to the southeast, the men asked if the machine could land to pee in a field, said Buy.

Police investigate the site where the French thief Redoine Faid abandoned a French helicopter Alouette II after his escape from prison Photo AFP

At that moment, they pointed weapons at Buy and said we were going to get their friend to the prison of Réau.

The pilot said that he had done so because they had threatened his family and that he had the impression of not having

After take-off, Buy was forced to stop the helicopter a second time on a vacant lot.

"They asked me to shut down the engine and leave me alone. put your head in your hands so that I could not see what was going on outside, "said Buy, adding that he had guessed that they loaded bags into the helicopter.

When they were trying to take off, Buy thought that he was in trouble because, despite his efforts, the helicopter would not restart.

"They agreed that I had to fix the problem and that's when I saw that they had completely covered their faces," he said. But when the repairs took too long the pilot was hit in the head.

"I fell to the ground and I was unconscious for a few seconds."

Once there, he tried again and the turbine started.

Photo: AFP

The hostage receives l & # 39; order to fly very low At one point, the men seemed to be a little lost until the red walls of the prison of Réau were visible

"A man remained [in the helicopter] threatening me "said Buy.

Buy said that at this point he was worried about fuel levels, but said the extreme concentration had replaced his fear.

Redoine Faid, a renowned escapee, joined them, Buy was ordered to go to Lognes in the east of Paris, then to Roissy, in the northeastern suburb of Paris [19659003] The helicopter and Buy were then discovered in Gonesse, also in the north-eastern suburbs of the French capital.

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A European arrest warrant was issued against Faid and a manhunt was launched by the police in France.