Escape from Alcatraz - how they could do it?!

[dougie]

There was an interesting re-construction of the "escape from alcatraz" in an episode of "mythbusters"I dloaded few years ago.It showed how it was conceivabley carried out,and that the possibility they survived wasnt out of the question .
regards

[j.r-ahde]

Hello Red!

I thought about that dental-record thing too today, while having a lunch-break at my working-place!

What it comes to the mastermind thing, probably he was really the leader and he really had a superior IQ (134).

The next question is, of course; how intelligent were the Anglins and Allen West?!

Thinking about the clever way of carrying out the plan under the noses of the guards, none of them were dummies. Despite they had dummies!

All the best
Jukka

[Shangas]

US. Federal Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island. The so-called "unescapable" island prison...

I'm of the opinion that escape was both possible and impossible.

You have to think about it this way...

1. The prisoner has to get out of his cell.
2. Then he has to get out of the cellblock.
3. Then he has to the beach without being seen. The moment he's seen, he's shot.
4. He has to get from the island to San Francisco, I believe the distance is something like a mile and a half, with freezing waters & strong currents.

Theoreticly, you could do it. If you were fit and the weather was good. But let's face it, prison food is not bodybuilder's food. There's no gym, and there aren't any newspapers or radios or televisions where one might pick up a weather-forecast.

5. Once you reach the mainland...then what?

To my knowledge, there was only ONE escapee who successfully made it to San Francisco. By the time he did, he was almost dead from exhaustion. When the cops picked him up, I think he would've been glad to go back to prison.

But let's assume he made it. All prisoners on Alcatraz wore the same uniforms, that uniform would be so obvious that I'm sure any person in San Francisco would recognise it and would call the cops at once. The only way the guy would escape detection would be to have a clean set of civilian clothes. Such clothes are unobtainable on Alcatraz for the most part, and even if he did get any, he would never keep them dry during the swim over.

The only other way would be for the man to have a contact waiting for him on the shore of San Francisco, this wouldn't be possible - To get a contact there, you'd have to get the word out. And that was not easy. All outgoing mail was censored and scanned and checked and rechecked, all visitors were checked and rechecked, you only got I think, a visit a month, or something...

I don't think anybody could ever have successfully escaped from Alcatraz. Ever.