A helicopter prison escape was foiled in Greece on Sunday in an extravagant attempt by an inmate at stealing his freedom.

Reports describe that a helicopter swooped down on a prison courtyard in Greece on Sunday and armed men on board the helicopter fired at guards attempting to stop them. The armed men then lowered a rope towards Panagiotis Vlastos , a convicted killer, in what was his fourth separate attempt to escape the prison.

However, the escape attempt was foiled when the prisoner was shot and the helicopter was forced down in the prison parking lot as authorities closed in.

According to police the helicopter held two armed passengers, as well as a pilot and a technician.

At first the helicopter dangled a rope down with a hook attached to it as they tried to connect it to the chicken wire fence surrounding Trikala prison. However, they were unable to successfully pull down the fencing and so they lowered the rope to the inmate in an attempt to get him to climb up to the helicopter.

The armed men were using AK-47 assault rifles to fight off prison guards, and one guard did suffer minor injuries from flying glass from the gunfire.

Vlastos did manage to climb into the helicopter but was hit by gunfire in the exchange. He fell from about 3 meters back into the prison courtyard, and the helicopter was forced to land in the parking lot next to the prison.

Authorities have said more than 500 bullets were fired from the armed men in the helicopter.

Vlastos is a 43 year old inmate who was convicted of murder and racketeering. He is serving a life prison sentence, and has attempted to escape three time before this - all of which have failed.