Helicopter hijacked for dramatic jail break

Two Russian men on Thursday managed to hijack a helicopter at gunpoint and then break their friend out of jail by lowering a rope ladder over a prison colony, investigators said.

"According to preliminary information, the escaped inmate was convicted of murder and had served half his sentence," the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Investigators did not explain how precisely the helicopter heist occurred, saying only that the two men threatened the crew of a helicopter owned by a private company in the central region of Vologda, north of Moscow.

After ordering the crew to fly to the penal colony, the men "lowered a rope ladder and a man climbed aboard."

The three men then made a safe getaway in the region's main city of Vologda, releasing the crew. The penal colony itself issued no statement.