Rédoine Faïd, an armed robber and repeat offender serving several sentences, was not thought to be an imminent escape risk. But one day after his transfer in November 2017 to the Réau penitentiary center, in the Paris region, the deputy head of this ultra-secure establishment spotted drones flying overhead. She warned her management by e-mail in February 2018, also drawing attention to the lack of wires over the main courtyard (to which inmates did not have access) to prevent access by air. It was from this courtyard that Faïd, 51, would take off by helicopter five months later, in an escape worthy of the gangster films that have fascinated him since childhood. But because of it, he will appear before the Paris criminal court starting on Tuesday, September 5.

On the morning of Sunday, July 1, 2018, Faïd left cell 207 where he was being held in solitary confinement, to see his brother Brahim, who had come to visit him. The day before, the inmate had asked to bring forward this meeting, originally scheduled for the afternoon, so as not to miss the Spain-Russia match, in the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup, broadcast at 4 pm. Rédoine Faïd arrived at the visiting room at 9.15 am.

It was 11:18 am when an Alouette II, a little helicopter from the 1950s, swept into the prison's main courtyard, which has since been fitted with anti-intrusion wires. On board were three hooded men and the pilot they had taken hostage at an airfield 20 kilometers away. The pilot was instructed to hover 1 meter above the ground. One hooded man remained on board with him, a second stood guard in the courtyard, assault rifle in hand, while the third set to work on the door of the building with a grinder, all in the fog of a smoke bomb, obstructing the sight of guards and cameras.

The door bolt snapped in 40 seconds, the man with the grinder entered a corridor and, two sawn-off iron grates later, reached the visiting room area, from which he extracted Faïd, taking him in the opposite direction. They squeezed into the Alouette II, which rose and pulled away to the cheers of other inmates. It was all over in under 10 minutes, and no shots were fired. The helicopter landed in Gonesse, 50 kilometers to the north, and its occupants climbed into a first car, then a second, which took the A1 freeway, crossed a toll booth, and vanished. At 12:11 pm, Faïd, one of France's most closely watched prisoners, had disappeared – not for the first time.

Five years earlier, the armed robber had made a spectacular escape from his first prison, in Sequedin, northern France: armed with a pistol and explosives concealed in his dirty laundry bag, he had taken four warders hostage and blown open five doors to freedom. He was caught six weeks later. After Réau, Faïd avoided recapture for 95 days.

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