History Main / AirVentPassageway

It's the only move on the part of a villain that's stupider than LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard (or any room with a {{bed|sheetLadder}}). When heroes find themselves trapped in a room with all doors and windows locked, the quickest exit is always through the ventilation duct. Air vents also work excellently in reverse for breaking ''in'' and infiltrating a facility, as well.

Covers require little effort to remove, openings are within reach, they can support the weight of a person and are wide enough in diameter to allow an adult to pass through, there are no internal obstacles except for the occasional DeadlyRotaryFan blocking the branching corridors, they are free of normal sheet metal's dangerously sharp edges, they [[AcousticLicense are totally soundproof]], [[InsecurityCamera away from any security cameras]] and [[HollywoodDarkness there's never a lack of light]] or chance of getting lost unless the plot calls for it.

A smart villain would have smaller air ducts, post guards around the openings or line their ducts with barbed wire and broken glass. It even appears near the top of the EvilOverlordList.

Some large universities (MIT and Caltech in particular) have longstanding "steam tunnel spelunkers" clubs, who often use air ducts (among other things) for exploring, getting around campus quickly, or pulling off pranks. Readers of this trope should be advised that this is [[DontTryThisAtHome extremely]] {{d|ontTryThisAtHome}}angerous, not to mention illegal — steam tunnels are usually hot, cramped, and frequently criss-crossed by scalding-hot piping, and explorers face trespassing charges and possible academic sanctions if they're discovered within[[note]]In other words, [[Literature/HarryPotter you could get killed — or worse, expelled!]][[/note]].

* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', [[spoiler: Señor Chang]] moves into the air vents for a while. And is joined by a monkey.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' episode "Canine Conundrum", Yumi and Ulrich escapes from the Gymnasium (besieged by robot dogs) this way. Although there is a joke, previously, about the adult teacher, Jim, being too fat to follow them.

* Amusingly {{downplayed|Trope}} by [[{{Meganekko}} Jody Hayward]] in ''Anime/ElCazadorDeLaBruja''. She uses the vents to sneak into [[BigBad Rosen]][[TheChessmaster berg's]] office only to find that her hips are slightly too large to fit through them.

Some large universities (MIT and Caltech in particular) have longstanding "steam tunnel spelunkers" clubs, who often use air ducts (among other things) for exploring, getting around campus quickly, or pulling off pranks. Readers of this trope should be advised that this is [[DontTryThisAtHome extremely]] {{d|ontTryThisAtHome}}angerous, not to mention illegal -- steam tunnels are usually hot, cramped, and frequently criss-crossed by scalding-hot piping, and explorers face trespassing charges and possible academic sanctions if they're discovered within[[note]]In other words, [[Literature/HarryPotter you could get killed -- or worse, expelled!]][[/note]].

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2''. Naturally, ducts are much more convenient when you're eight inches tall.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'''s "[[TheMovie Big Picture Show]]". Taking refuge in Eddy's Brother's room, the Eds try to get out the window. It's bricked in, as shown in a previous episode. ("My brother's a whiz at laying bricks.") While Edd tries to find another way out, he trips over a rug, revealing a heating duct. Eddy quickly pries open the grate, jumps in, and... more bricks. Then Ed finds the "In Case Of Movie Break Glass" case.

* Franchise/WallaceAndGromit's ''WesternAnimation/TheWrongTrousers'' has air ducts to a museum big enough to stand in. They were realistically loud though, insofar as a pair of remote-controlled, vacuum-soled robotic trousers can be realistic.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'' carries this over from the book it's based on. The rats make it out fine, however all but two of the mice are blown away to their deaths.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Franchise/DieHard''
** Used quite famously in the [[Film/DieHard first film]]: the villains quickly realize the hero John is using the ventilation system, and come perilously close to catching him inside. Also {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in that John [=McClane=] is rather muscular and the vents are small; he remarks, "Now I know what a TV dinner feels like." Plus, he gets really dirty.
** In the [[Film/DieHard2 second film]], [=McClane=] crawls through a ventilation shaft on directions from the janitor to reach an area where he believes mooks are waiting to attack an airport SWAT team escorting the engineer to a backup radio system to establish contact with planes circling the airport. [[CassandraTruth He turns out to be right, but gets there after the SWAT officers have been taken out permanently]].
* In ''Film/{{Dawn of the Dead|1978}}'', the main characters drywall use the mall's air vents to access the stores that are locked with gates. They also drywall and paint over the door to their hiding area so it looks like there was never a door there and rely on the air vents to access the area instead, figuring that marauding survivors may target the mall and would be a bigger threat than zombies. [[spoiler:An assumption that proves ''very'' valid.]]
* In ''Film/{{Masterminds}}'', Ozzy has an extended sequence where he dodges the hostage-takers in air vents. Done realistically in that the school is huge but only covered by a small group, the ducts are barely large enough for him to fit in the first place (and he's not that big in the first place, being a kid), and he makes enough noise that they can follow him once they stumble upon his location.
* Used, more realistically than usual, in ''Film/SkyHigh2005''. One character's power (glowing in the dark) comes in handy here, allowing the others to see. And only the character who can become a rodent can reach the place needed to save the day. [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway Lame power? What's a lame power?]]

* ''Film/{{Serenity}}''
** Minor subversion when the Captain must get a wrench and properly remove the duct cover before executing the trope to get past a locked door.
** After escaping the space battle in an EscapePod, the Operative infiltrates Mr. Universe's complex via its air ducts.
** Played for laughs at the end, when Simon and Kaylee are taking the "unresolved" out of their [[UnresolvedSexualTension UST]]. They begin removing their clothes, then start kissing, then they fall down out of sight... and the camera pans up to show [[CovertPervert River]] watching from an air duct overhead.

* Subverted in ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'', when the brothers break into Copley Plaza Hotel to assassinate Russian mobsters, but get lost ''and'' break the vent... granted, they happen to near-fall into the correct room. Agent Smecker than explains how this trope is only ever seen in "bad television":
-->'''Smecker:''' Little assault guys, crawling through the vents, coming in through the ceiling -- that ''Film/JamesBond'' shit never happens in real life! Professionals don't do that!
* Played with in ''Film/MrAndMrsSmith2005'', where assassin Jane Smith's place of work has security lasers everywhere to keep intruders out, ''including the vent system'', as Mrs. Smith is the owner of the company and has used such tactics herself in the past.
* Used in ''Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'', complete with a rooftop airvent to enter through and enough lighting inside to see. The shaft does however break apart and fall through the ceiling once two people are inside it, crashing to the floor below and alerting the guards.

* ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'':
** In ''Film/{{Alien}}'', the ''monster'' actually uses the air duct escape against the protagonists
** In ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', Ripley and the marines use ducts to escape the monsters (which likewise use the ducts to invade). Likewise the aliens bypass the walls and doors by sneaking through the ceiling plenum ''à la'' ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'', correctly using the structure to carry their weight and cross the lay-in-ceiling.
** It's only explained in the movie's extended director's cut, but the character of "Newt" earned that nickname because she was so good at playing hide-and-seek in those same ducts.
* In ''Film/DesperateMeasures'', the villain Peter [=McCabe=] can take a medical facility over by himself once he gets to the control room, able to lock and open doors at will and talk via the police intercoms to the movie's main character, Frank Connor. An agent attempts to listen into [=McCabe=] and Connor's conversation by situating himself in an air vent above the control room and lowering a small mic, but he is soon found out by [=McCabe=]. He shoots into the ceiling and waits until he sees blood drip from the bullet holes in the ceiling. When asked by Connor what happened, he simply replies "Just a rat, Frank. Just a rat."
* ''Film/MissionImpossible'': Ethan Hunt infiltrates the CIA headquarters this way (along with Creator/JeanReno's), which leads to the famous "[[MissionImpossibleCableDrop dangling in the ultra-secure white room]]" scene.
* ''Film/MissionImpossibleIII'': Ethan escapes IMF headquarters like this. Given they are the masters of the air vent entry, you would have thought they'd had better security, but no. He didn't so much "escape" as "get into another office in the same building that shared the vent system". The vent Ethan crawls out of is in a room with pamphlets for the Virginia Department Of Transportation, his cover job, implying that he uses that room frequently and either knows of -- or set up -- that opportunity, should he ever need it.
* ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol'': There's an offhand comment that "infrared sensors" prevent Ethan from infiltrating the server room in the Burj Khalifa, so he has to get there by [[OhCrap climbing up the outside of the world's tallest building]]. Played straight later on in the movie when Brandt has to enter another server room through the heat vents, which of course are rather hot and contain a DeadlyRotaryFan he has to leap onto and hope his metallic suit will keep him suspended above a remote-controlled robot with a large magnet. As a RunningGag in the movie is the failure of the various gadgets the IMF team is equipped with, this plan does not fill him with confidence.
* A variation happens in the Italian movie ''Film/DangerDiabolik'' (featured on the last episode of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''), where the title character scales up a castle wall using a pair of devices consisting of three hand-activated suction cups attached to a handle. Mike and the Bots have a field day with it.
-->'''Servo:''' Diabolik's only two feet down the tower, moving as fast as he can...
* Another ''[=MST3K=]'' film, ''Film/FutureWar'', subverts this trope. A minor character climbs into an air vent to avoid a rampaging killer cyborg. The vent promptly collapses through the ceiling under the weight of her average-sized body and she gets killed.
* In ''Film/JohnnyEnglishReborn'' they use the Garderobe to infiltrate the castle.

* One of the scenes in ''Film/INowPronounceYouChuckAndLarry'' involves the main characters (who are firemen) having to rescue a would be thief who got stuck trying to sneak through an air duct.
* In ''Film/SantaClausConquersTheMartians'', the creepily jolly St. Nick and some Earthling kids escape from a spaceship's ''air lock'' through the ventilation duct -- employing Santa's long-established ability to fit through chimneys. ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' adds an appropriately Bondian line: "So, Mister Claus, you have a nasty habit of surviving!"
* ''Film/{{Sneakers}}''. One of the team infiltrates an enemy-controlled building through the ventilation system, and tries to get out the same way after the job is completed. Though somewhat subverted in that he is caught as the guards are smart enough to look and find him.
* Subverted and {{lampshade H|anging}}ung in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'', when Kumar calls in an incident as a diversion and crawls through a heating duct to get Harold out of jail, making a racket, having an argument with Harold (who doesn't want to escape) while still in the duct, getting stuck in it and eventually causing the duct to collapse, falling onto a table and hitting his head on a file cabinet. He does manage to grab the bag of weed and get Harold out due to {{lampshade H|anging}}ung PoliceBrutality, though.
* Referenced in ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'' when the staff of a mental hospital find Cole has vanished from his restraints, in a locked room. Their eyes turn to the tiny air vent way up on the high ceiling. After all, there's no other way out. Unless he was snatched through time....
* Slightly altered in ''Crossfire'', where the main characters are able to escape an army of policy by crawling through an air duct of a building.
* Parodied in ''Film/TopSecret''. While incarcerated in Flugendorf Prison, Nick Rivers tries to escape through the air vent system. He ends up sticking his head out of a medicine cabinet and a toilet before finally sliding back out through the vent into the cell.

* In ''Film/MenInBlackII'', the worms get to the power control of MIB headquarters through the air vents.
* ''Film/{{Daylight}}'' has Creator/SylvesterStallone get into a caved-in tunnel through a air vent. Since the air vent was meant to supply air to a car tunnel, its huge size is justified. However, the architecture of the system is still not completely realistic.
* In ''Film/PaulBlartMallCop'' Blart attempts to use an air duct to escape from some {{mooks}} but only ends up completely giving away his position by all the noise and all the dents showing up, leaving him open to attack. In the end the air vent just breaks loose anyway, proving to not be a stable place to climb in in the first place. It doesn't help that Paul is a little on the heavy side (played by KevinJames).
* In ''Film/{{DEBS}}'', Lucy Diamond uses the air vents to infiltrate the building in which Endgame is occurring, but it turns out that Homeland Security has been briefed about the possibility that spies could enter illegally through such routes.
* ''Franchise/StarWars''

** Still in ''Film/ANewHope'' : while it is generally regarded as the arch-[[AerialCanyonChase Aerial Canyon Chase]], the Death Star penetration scene is much of an Air Vent Passageway occurence of TheInfiltration, with plenty of Canyon Chase topping on it. The combination of the two tropes is precisely the trick that fools Darth Vader and gets Luke that HappyEnding.

* The 1998 American ''Film/{{Godzilla|1998}}'' movie has this, where Audrey Timmonds and Animal Palotti are sneaking through the vents of Madison Square Gardens in order to escape Godzilla's babies. Also subverted in the movie, since it turns out the vent can't hold their weight after all.
* Memorably parodied in ''Film/TheBrothersBloom''. Penelope needs to smuggle a MacGuffin out of a church while the police are thoroughly distracted. She fits in the air vents well enough, but they are not concealed in the least, and the clamor she makes attracts the police to her. The duct has very little support, so it breaks open ''right in front'' of a SWAT team, and she picks herself up into a FightingStance.

* In ''Film/FourteenOhEight'', protagonist Mike Enslin attempts to escape from the titular room by crawling through the air duct... only to discover that one of the room's many long-dead occupants has taken up residence there as well. He manages to escape the ghoul by quickly backtracking out of the vents, but the attempted escape in the first place didn't do anything, as most of the airvents leading to different rooms simply lead to various memories he's had throughout life, making it a pointless effort to begin with, not that he knew that until he tried.
* ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater'' has Andy using this to escape a room in which the ranks of the infected are growing exponentially. Partially justified in that Andy is supposed to be only around ten or eleven and therefore is small enough to fit inside the vent with little trouble.
* Subverted in the ''Film/DayOfTheDead2008'' remake, as one of the zombies catches the heroes trying this and actually follows them into the vent.
* Subverted in the B-movie ''Film/ChoppingMall''. The teens attempt to escape the shopping mall's malfunctioning killer robots through the airvent. Only the girls get in before the guys are forced to flee for their lives. The girl end up abandoning this plan when it seems the computer has turned on the heat, forcing them to leave the vent and re-enter the mall.
* Done in the Lorenzo Lama vehicle ''Snake Eater II: The Drug Buster'': as Lama's character [[FanService wiggles his denim-clad gluteal region]] through the mental asylum's air duct, he meets two characters going ''in'' -- a hired woman, and a pizza delivery guy!
* ''Film/{{Inception}}'' had the group breaking into an ice fortress using a air vent system. Justified since they had created those air vents to be big enough to let people move around.
* The famous ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' escape although instead of an air vent, it's a sewage pipe.
* In ''Film/ToySoldiers'', the main characters use the air vents to get from the bathroom to the headmaster's office.
* The cast of ''Film/ThePool'' try to do this, but the killer will have none of that nonsense, and starts stabbing them from beneath, killing two characters.
* Played with in ''Film/EightLeggedFreaks'', when a character narrowly escapes the giant spiders by diving into a rooftop air duct into a mall's ventilation shafts... only to slide helplessly down a ''slanted'' vent, then get trapped when the grill at the bottom won't come loose.
* In ''Film/TheJourneyOfNattyGann'', Natty escapes from a reform school via ''some'' kind of vent which she gets into by removing a grate from the bottom of the bathroom wall.
* ''Film/{{Poseidon}}'': Used as a means of navigation in the remake. Handled a bit more realistically than most examples of this trope: the ducts are wide enough to crawl through without very much effort, but one character does get stuck in a compressed section and has to be helped out. Another one suffers from claustrophobia, and the heroes nearly drown due to the rising water because it takes a ''lot'' of effort to get the panel on the other side open.
* Also used in the sequel to the original movie ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure'', ''Beyond the Poseidon Adventure,'' complete with internal lighting fixtures.
* In ''Film/{{Colombiana}}'', Cataleya sneaks through a prison's air vents, helped by the fact that she is ''very'' skinny. She had to disable the vents' fans before starting her journey.
* Done in ''Film/IronSky'' by James Washington when escaping from the Nazis on their Moon base (ItMakesSenseInContext). We're not shown how he actually get into the vents, all so that we can be treated to a {{pun}} by Klaus Adler, when he comments to Renate that she is a "knockout"... just as a vent cover is falling on him from the ceiling. Slightly justified in that the Nazis never expected to be invaded or infiltrated. And all their technology is of the SchizoTech variety.
* ''Film/WhosHarryCrumb'' has the titular detective attempt to spy on his client's GoldDigger wife and her lover (whom he suspects to be the kidnappers of the client's daughter) by pretending to be a repairman and crawling in the vents, which are big enough to accommodate someone the size of Creator/JohnCandy. Subverted in that he actually can't get a good look inside the room due to the awkward positioning of the airholes, so he resorts to using a camera (and then doesn't bother to look at the pictures to find out that the kidnapper is [[spoiler:his boss]]). When the kidnapper turns up the A/C, Harry is rapidly propelled along the vents to the point that he literally flies out at the end.
* Played completely straight in ''Film/BlueStreak'', where Logan manages to hide a huge diamond right before the cops find and arrest him. Years later, he is released from prison and comes looking... only to find out that the building is now a police precinct.
* In the HBO Movie ''Deadly Voyage'' (depicting the murder of 8 African stowaways on a Europe-bound cargo ship), the 9th stowaway manages to escape from the ship and his would-be killers by shimmying up one of these. Made all the more harrowing by the fact that movie is based on a true story and that this isn't AdaptationDisplacement--this is EXACTLY how the man was able to get away.

* ''Film/GingerSnaps2Unleashed'': Used by Ghost and Brigitte. Somewhat justified since they are both skinny teenage girls.
* The starship in ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' has a spacious duct system plus a team of fanboys able to navigate the heroes across. Justified as the starship is based on one used in a TV show, so this trope would come into play.
* ''Film/PoliceAcademy'': Several officers use this method (among others) to infiltrate a building held by criminals.
** The obese officer "House" {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it when he complains about having to take the stairs (when one infiltration team got to take the elevator [[JanitorImpersonationInfiltration while disguised as maintenance personnel]]) and is reminded that he was offered the vents.
** In ''2'', Mauser co-opts Lassard's plan to take the Scullions by surprise via the air vent on top of the zoo enclosure's roof. Unfortunately for him, he chooses [[TheKlutz Fackler]] to help him. HilarityEnsues.
* In ''Film/TheThieves'', Yenicall escapes from Park's hotel room by crawling through the ceiling crawlspace.
* Subverted in ''Film/{{Outpost}}'' [[spoiler:when the last remaining team member escapes through an air vent, only to end up in the testing chamber where he's swarmed by its undead occupants]].
** But played straight in ''Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz'' where a powerfully-build Russian escapes from the underground lab by climbing a convenient ladder in a vertical air vent. There are no locks or bars whatsoever, in a secret military installation where prisoners and zombies are confined, targeted by American spies and Soviet commando groups.
* ''Film/TheKillingRoom'' (2009). Several volunteers are locked in a room for a psychological experiment, only to be killed off one at a time. One man is able to smash through the ventilation duct in the ceiling. The researchers react calmly as this has all happened before (in fact, the protagonists had heard someone scrambling through the duct earlier). He reaches a roof duct, but is blocked by a steel grill. Two labcoated researchers with clipboards are shown standing over another rooftop duct [[NightmareFuel from which can be heard a woman screaming]]. They walk over to the other grill, hit the man with knockout gas and drag him back to the Room.
* ''Film/SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman''. Variant, as Snow White escapes the castle through the privy, and the Dwarves use that same privy to sneak in and open the gates.
* ''Film/TheThing2011''. The heroine temporarily escapes the alien monster on the FlyingSaucer by fleeing down a vent it's too big to follow. Instead of [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfMass morphing back to human size]], the alien gropes for her with its CombatTentacles, [[spoiler:eventually {{Ankle Drag}}ing her into the open. Unfortunately she's used to time to get her hands on a hand grenade.]] She got into the spaceship in the first place by (accidentally) falling through the intake vents as the ship powered up.
* Alan, Lex and Tim do a variation of this in the original ''Film/JurassicPark''. They're in the Visitors' Center kitchen, and can't get out the doors because of the raptors running around. So, they make their way to the center's lobby by removing ceiling panels and climbing up inside. Not into the actual air vents, though.
* ''Film/{{Garfield}}''. Garfield goes through the air vent of the Telegraph building in order to find Odie. Justified since, even though Garfield is obese, he is still a cat and thus much smaller and lighter than a human. However, once he enters it, security guards turn on the air, causing him to fly around the air vents. He then slams into the end of the ducts, but doesn't get out. Eventually, he goes around to where he finds Odie.
* Deconstructed in the "A is for Amateur" segment of ''Film/ABCsOfDeath2'' where the assassin's planned entrance through the air vents is foiled by close quarters, protruding nails, and massive amounts of dust. [[spoiler:He eventually takes out his target anyway, when the vent is opened to find the source of the corpse-stink, and the gun falls out, going off when it hits the floor.]]
* ''Film/WarGames''. While escaping from NORAD, David gets into the ventilation system. He uses it to reach the War Room, where he infiltrates a tour group.
* ''Film/EscapeFromAlcatraz'': Morris, Charlie, and the Anglin brothers mount an escape by digging out the back of their cells to get into the ventilator shafts and escape Alcatraz prison through the roof.
* In ''Unaccompanied Minors'' the four kids escape from the four separate rooms where Mr. Porter is holding them by waiting till he is distracted, switching the surveillance cameras with recordings, and then climbing into the air vent in each room.
* Astronaut Digger Reed in the ''Series/WaltDisneyPresents'' movie ''Hero in the Family'', who was [[FreakyFridayFlip in the body of the chimpanzee Orville at the time]], uses the vents to escape from NASA's animal cages, then later uses them along with his son Ben to take the crystal that had caused the mind swap in the first place.
* Seen in "Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane". On board a 747 of all places.
* In ''Film/{{Morgan}}'', after Lee is locked in Morgan's cell, she crawls up the air vent and kicks out the skylight to escape.
* ''Film/BadSanta 2'' features a character crawling up both a garbage chute and an air-vent to spy on someone. He's discovered when his phone rings and starts to play ''Pop That Pussy''.
* ''Film/{{Cyberjack}}'': Nick uses the giant air ducts to navigate around the office building and hide from the terrorists.
* ''Film/InLikeFlint''. While in Moscow, Flint escapes from Russian agents, opens an air vent cover and goes inside. He then crawls down the tunnel and spies upon the Prime Minister (presumably they meant the Premier).
* ''Film/HeroAndTheTerror'': After his escape from prison, [[SerialKiller Simon Moon]] chooses to hide out in a popular opera house. He captures new victims by hiding in the air ventilation system.
* ''Film/TenCloverfieldLane''. When Michelle wakes up trapped in the bunker, she doesn't try to use the air vent as the hatch is too small, though she does light a fire in there to get Howard to open the door. Later the air filtration system stops working, and Michelle is the only one small enough to crawl through the vent to fix it. There's a larger access hatch in the living room, but the duct itself is extremely cramped; Michelle doesn't crawl through it so much as she inches her way into it. This is played for drama [[spoiler: when she makes her escape through the vent and Howard (who's much too big to fit in the vent himself), tries to kill her by stabbing a knife through the duct.]]
* In ''Film/DenOfThieves'', Donnie escapes from the basement of the Reserve by crawling up an air vent to the second floor.
* Several of Krampus' minions crawl about the vents of the Engel household in ''Film/{{Krampus}}''.
* ''Film/ScarecrowSlayer'': After the Scarecrow kills Caleb in the hospital, Mary escapes from her room into Judy's by crawling through a ridiculously large air vent.
* Naturally ''Film/AntMan'' finds this trope easier than other heroes, but a ProperlyParanoid BigBad puts micromesh across the ventilators, so our hero has to get inside the building first [[DownTheDrain via the water pipes]].

* ''Series/TwentyFour'' enjoys playing around with this. Sometimes played straight and other times, the villains are quick to seal them to prevent the cliche from happening. One notorious use of air ducts was seen in a fifth season episode, as agent Jack Bauer uses duct tape to seal a shaft and prevent nerve gas from seeping into a safe room.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has the "Jefferies Tube" maintenance tunnels criss-crossing the ship. They're actually designed for human access, but are quite often used in this way.
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''
*** In "Dagger of the Mind", Dr. Helen Noel saves the day by using a passage to get to the power room and shut off the Tantalus Colony's force field.
*** In "Miri", the children use an air vent to infiltrate the lab where the Enterprise crew is working and steal their communicators.
*** In "The Trouble With Tribbles", Scotty speculates that the tribbles got into the food processors on the ''Enterprise'' via the actual air vents. Spock realizes that the grain the ''Enterprise'' is guarding on the nearby space station is in storage compartments with similar vents, prompting Kirk to beam over and leading to the episode's [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Crowning Moment of Funny]].
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had a few DieHardOnAnX episodes where the Jefferies Tubes come in handy this way.
** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. The ship is taken over and everyone is locked in their rooms. Hoshi, being the smallest person on board (and a regular) manages to wriggle out through the vents. Presumably, Hoshi is the one called upon when something in the vent needs fixing. Or she was chosen so we could have a gratuitous {{Fanservice}} moment where her [[ShirtlessScene shirt gets pulled off]]. Especially since the ducts didn't seem that narrow anyway. If anything, that was at least acknowledging that the Jefferies Tubes would be guarded by the bad guys. That vent existed solely during construction and was closed off upon completion, it was never intended for people to pass through.
*** In the MirrorUniverse episode "In A Mirror, Darkly", the crew of Mirror NX-01 Enterprise pursue a [[TheDreaded Gorn]] through the Jeffries tubes of an Original Series vessel.
** Not exactly an air vent, but in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' they once had Jake crawl through a disused ore-processing chute that was too small for a grown man, but not for a scrawny fourteen-year-old.
** It would be easier to list the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episodes that don't involve Jefferies Tubes.
* In an episode of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', Zelenka crawls through a vent to turn the city's power back on, although in this case the air vents are the same size as you'd find in the real world so he did have a very hard time moving around.
* In ''Series/StargateSG1'', the eponymous team uses this trope ''every'' time they're on a Goa'uld mothership.
* Subverted on ''Series/{{Undeclared}}'', where Steven, finding himself trapped in a room, attempts to crawl through an external ventilation duct, which breaks from the wall and falls as soon as he enters.
* ''Series/TheXFiles''
** Justified in episodes "Squeeze" and "Tooms", since the killer -- Eugene Victor Tooms -- is a mutant whose power is to be capable of squeezing through tiny openings.
** Used with absolutely no justification in "Ghost in the Machine". Though there is a slight subversion when Scully learns firsthand the downside of trying to climb through the airducts when an [[AIIsACrapshoot insane AI]] controls the ventilation system...
** A conspiracy theorist trying to spy on a defense contractor's meeting in "Three of a Kind" gets caught when the duct audibly flexes under his weight.
* ''Series/UnnaturalHistory'' subverts this. Jasper tries to think of a creative way out of the room he's trapped in, and the camera focuses on a air vent duct. The next shot shows him struggling futilely to pry the vent free.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}''
** In the second season, this is a legitimate way of getting around in the Swan station. Kate uses the ventilation ducts to escape imprisonment in the food storage room in the episodes "Adrift" and "Orientation", and in the episode "Lockdown", Ben (then going by the alias of "Henry Gale") can escape from being locked inside ''by blast doors''.
** Locke later sealed the vents to put an end to this kind of thing, which didn't work out so well later once he and Jack found themselves locked inside.

** Also played straight in the Third Doctor episode, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E2InvasionOfTheDinosaurs Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]", where Sarah Jane is locked in a closet and escapes through an air duct.

*** This got a CallBack in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius The Brain of Morbius]]": The Doctor finds an improbably tiny vent. Sarah asks, "Are you suggesting I--" "--No, I'm ''not'' suggesting you climb down there!" the Doctor snaps. Instead, he uses it to send poison gas to Dr. Solon, who's in the next room.

** Used by the Fourth Doctor and company in Tom Baker's second Dalek story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks Destiny of the Daleks]]" -- notable for the Doctor pausing to mock the Daleks' inability to follow them...
-->'''The Doctor:''' If you're supposed to be the superior race of the universe, why don't you try climbing after us? Bye bye!

-->'''The Doctor:''' I love 1958, no one's seen ''Film/DieHard''. Or ''Film/{{Alien}}''. Or ''Film/DieHard2'', or ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', or ''[[Film/DieHardWithAVengeance Die Hard 3]]''...
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Journey's End]]", Captain Jack crawls through miles of ducts tracking three lifeforms that turn out to be Mickey, Sarah Jane and Jackie.

* The frequent use of this trope in its [[Series/DoctorWho parent show]] is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' story "Death of the Doctor".
-->'''Eleventh Doctor:''' Ventilation shafts, that takes me back. And forward.
* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'': Zack and Cody easily spend more time traversing the Tipton's air vents than just using the hallways and doors.
* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': Many ASimplePlan requires use of the school's elaborate, labyrinthine air ducts, which eventually gave out in the GrandFinale.
* Spoofed on ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': in one episode, George Sr. finds an entrance to the air ducts behind the refrigerator and attempts to escape house arrest. Not only does he fail to find a way out of the house, Buster pushes the refrigerator back into place and traps him inside.
* ''Series/MissionImpossible''
** The master of air duct navigation is clearly the jack-of-all-trades Barney Collier. And one of the few times he wasn't doing it, he was coaching the woman who was.
** Somewhat justified and subverted in some episodes, particularly early ones. In one they had to employ a contortionist (played by Eartha Kitt): only she was small and limber enough to crawl through the ducts, and they even gave her a CoolTool so she could unfasten, from inside the duct, the screws that hold the grille on from the outside. At other times they sent a miniature remote controlled hovercraft and a small trained dog through vent ducts and similar. But most of the time, yeah.
* Justified in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' where the diminutive Rigel often uses air ducts and service tunnels to travel when the ship is being invaded or he's feeling particularly paranoid.
* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'': Earl engineers a jail break using this method. Unfortunately, the duct collapses in the warden's office.

* The Australian series ''Series/{{Escape from Jupiter}}'' features a moonbase and space station/makeshift rocket that both feature large air ducts. They're also likely some sort of Jefferies tubes -- just built in case of need for extended residence.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''
** Famously {{lampshade|Hanging}}d:
-->'''Joel:''' You know, it's funny how movie directors always make air vents big enough to crawl around in.
** And later, ''much'' later parodied in the episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E09IWasATeenageWerewolf I Was a Teenage Werewolf]]'' as an ''Alien'' parody where Tom Servo attempts to fight an invading alien, armed to the teeth, by going after it in an air vent; but gets stuck and after a few moments of nervous singing, bursts into tears. He does free himself soon afterwards, no thanks to Mike and Crow.
* ''Series/BurnNotice''
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d and subverted in an episode. When trapped in an office building, Michael wryly notes that air vents are viable escape routes... if you happen to be size of a four year old. He does state, however, that instead of using air ducts, you can instead use the sub-ceiling of an office building to escape danger.
** His mother remembers he crawled through an air vent so he can go to the theatre and watch ''Star Wars''.
** Justified in a later episode (and spelled out in the narrative) that they were in a medical experimentation lab and the ventilation system had to be sufficiently large to facilitate a quick full air turn around in the event that something bad happened allowing him to climb to a higher floor in the building (in the narrative he says that normally it's not possible to use the airvents due to their size and lack of strength as well) (the system ventilated through the roof, he cut through it to get onto the second floor).
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d and subverted in ''Series/TheMiddleman'' episode "The Clotharian Contamination Protocol":
-->'''Wendy:''' We're coming from an isolation chamber in a secret headquarters built by an organization so covert we don't even know who they are, yet somehow we have vents large enough to crawl through, with accessible registers everywhere. Was this building designed by TV writers or what?
:: The subversion being that normally the vents are only a few inches in diameter, but they expand during an alert for this exact purpose. The Middleman explains that the "[[Film/DieHard Nakatomi Protocol]]" specifically enlarges the vents and turns off the surveillance.
* Hiro and Ando attempt one on ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', but their captors show up at the cell before they make it into the vent.
* Not "escaping" anything, but the "steam tunnel spelunkers" aspect shows up on ''Series/{{Numb3rs}}'', when it is revealed that Larry had been ''living'' in the tunnels on campus for awhile.
* On the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episode "The One With the Birth", Phoebe, Susan and Ross get locked in a janitor's closet in the hospital. Phoebe tries to escape through the vent but gets stuck, while Susan and Ross just get let out by the janitor.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Series/DarkSeason'' episode 5 where Marcie escapes and says, "A ventilation shaft. Marvellous, I'm a cliche."
* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Duct Soup", the crew spend most of the episode crawling around the ship's exceptionally large heating ducts to fix the thermostat. This, unfortunately for them, includes a badly claustrophobic Lister and the ducts being washed down and then air-dried...

* The old ''Series/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea'' series was rife with this trope, especially in the later seasons, when it seemed every third episode had a villain or Monster of the Week or regular character evading a villain or [=MotW=] getting into the ventilation system at some point. Played straight for the most part, although somewhat subverted in that the ducts themselves were quite roomy, and the vents were about a yard square or more in size, hinged like a door with a latch that anything brighter than a rock could operate, allowing convenient access.
* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', "Blood on the Scales". Chief Tyrol spends most of TheMutiny crawling through shafts to get to the FTL drive. Unlike some examples of this trope, these are shown to be narrow, unpleasant (especially when going past the urinals), and bloody tiring to crawl through -- when Tyrol is caught at one stage, he invites his captor to shoot him then and there as he's too exhausted to clamber out and be taken prisoner.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}''
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d: "Looks like Parker's going to have to climb through the air duct again..." Somewhat justified in that Parker is a) a master thief with an extensive knowledge of building layouts, and b) petite.
** This is apparently standard procedure for master thieves in the Leverageverse. In one episode where the team takes on another team Parker ends up running into her counterpart when both are inside the air-ducts. They are both irritated by the interference, but seem to show a mutual respect.
** Played with in one season three episode, when Parker encounters difficulties trying to do this as there are lasers blocking her path. Why it wouldn't be cheaper to simply make the ducts too small to crawl through is never addressed.

* In one episode of ''Series/LasVegas'', some bad guys take over the Montecito security centre. Danny [=McCoy=] uses the airvent system to try and get some intelligence on them. Right after the audience starts wondering why the hotel with "the best security on the strip" has such a gaping security hole, the vent collapses, conspicuously dumping Danny in the middle of Security. On his own desk, I believe. [[FridgeBrilliance Given that his predecessor, Ed Deline, had a bit of a mischievous streak, it's entirely possible he rigged the whole thing up]].
** There's also the time a guest's pet rat went missing from their hotel room. It had apparently done so via this trope, as it eventually did emerge from a ventilation duct.
* This is used on several episodes of the first season of ''Series/ThePretender''. During the first season finale Jared does this to break into and escape the Centre.

* In ''Series/{{Chuck}},'' there was once an ''incredibly'' roomy network of air vents, with ''lights.''
** Averted, however, in a season one episode, where Chuck crept around the area between the ceiling tiles and the high Buy More roof, and had to clamber over the air ducts while he was in there.
* Roomy air vents were used in at least one episode of ''Series/ISpy'', one of the more 'realistic' 1960s spy shows.
* Contra Security of ''Series/BreakingIn'' has large roomy air ducts... with booby traps. Knowing Oz, he may have had them built that large just to trap intruders inside.
* In an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', Elliot hides inside an air vent in order to spy on a woman holding hostages in autopsy. Then his phone goes off...
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', when George uses an air vent to break into his office after his boss tries to get him to resign by barricading it.
-->'''George:''' (on phone) Hello Margery, George Costanza. How are you sweetheart? Listen, can you give Mr. Thomassoulo a message for me?... Yes. If he needs me, tell him "''I’M IN MY OFFICE!''" Thanks.
* In ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'', the eponymous heroine did this a few times, and at least once escaped captivity via the plumbing. It helped that she could turn into a liquid.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': In "Sightings", Harm and Meg escape the oncoming Colombians by climbing through an air vent.
* In ''[[Series/LoisAndClark Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman]]'''s DieHardOnAnX episode "Fly Hard", Jimmy Olsen manages to escape unseen into the air vent system when terrorists initially take over the Daily Planet. Once he exits the system, however, it doesn't take long before he's found and neutralized.
* 1960's ''Series/{{Batman}}''
** Episode "Smack in the Middle". The Riddler uses an air duct passage to infiltrate the Moldavian Pavilion party.
** Episode "A Riddle A Day Keeps The Riddler Away". Batman and Robin use air ducts to infiltrate a building where the Riddler is holding a kidnapped king hostage.

* ''Series/{{Alcatraz}}'': Rebecca uses a air vent to sneak into a bank during a hostage situation in "Cal Sweeney".
* Done by the entire main cast in ''Series/{{Pixelface}}'' when the zombies from Claireparker's game invade the console. Of course, the vents aren't designed to take that much weight and they end up crashing through the ceiling.
* Subverted in ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'' episode "Gotta Finish the Riff." Aoki sneaks into the high school through a heating duct, and is doing fine until, at the worst possible moment, [[spoiler: he suddenly falls through the ceiling into the room where the bad guys are]].

* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', [[spoiler: Señor Chang]] moves into the air vents for a while. And is joined by a monkey.
* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' plays it straight with the sheer size of the ducts, but compensated by making the ensuing chase loos awkward and ridiculous.
* Played with in one episode of ''Series/FallingSkies'' where three characters are trapped in the basement of a hospital. Only the smallest character can fit through the vents (barely) so he goes to get help in clearing the hallway so the others can escape. [[spoiler:The alien creatures infiltrating the hospital, being much smaller than humans, have no such problem.]]
* Played with but ultimately averted in part two of the ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' episode Prometheus, where the blind girl who is leading Banner (stuck in a demi-Hulk state that severely limited his intelligence) suggests to him that he remove the grating covering an air vent to escape the underground government research facility they're trapped in, but they don't get the chance to actually try it before they're caught. Possibly double-subverted when they wind up escaping through a large ventilation shaft to the surface anyway.
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'': Sean and Emma break into a gallery via the vents in "Eat Yourself Slender".
* On ''Series/{{Nikita}}'', this is used in "Innocence" ([=3x02=]) to place a bomb beneath its target. Realistically, it's incredibly hard to get in-it required some serious gymnastics-and claustrophobically small once you are, and that's for a brainwashed 12-year old ex-gymnast {{Child Soldier|s}}. Nikita doesn't even ''consider'' following, instead opting to intercept her after she exist the vents.
* In ''Series/{{Helix}}'', once he escapes from isolation, Dr. Peter Farragut, a research scientist infected with TheVirus, holes up inside the vent systems at the arctic research facility where he works, and {{Exploit|edTrope}}s their extensiveness to make his way around the facility once his RFID chip has been disabled. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by Major Balleseros during an attempt to trail Peter:
-->'''Balleseros:''' Now I know what a TV dinner feels like.\\
'''Alan Farragut:''' Didn't think you were old enough to remember that one.\\
'''Balleseros:''' ''Film/DieHard''? Sure, saw it in third grade.\\
'''Alan Farragut:''' ''Ouch.''

* ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'': In "Shorthanded", Happy and Toby break into the Crimson casino by crawling through the air vents. Toby ends up falling through the ceiling.
* In ''Series/NickyRickyDickyAndDawn'', it was used to sneak and spy on their siblings. The air vent system was large enougjh for the father to erect his toy train set. It could also fit the four kids to fit nicely in the same place. Of course, the ceiling also failed when they were together.
* Comes up rarely on ''Series/BabylonFive'', once when Garibaldi and two other characters are being pursued by telepathic assassins (rather than try to follow them, the telepaths simply pick up on their target's thoughts and try to ambush them at their destination instead, until Garibaldi uses PsychicStatic to send the telepaths to the wrong place). Later, in the fifth season, an AdorablyPrecociousChild crawling through the vents spots the episode's villain preparing to assassinate Sheridan. The villain promptly opens fire on the ceiling, mortally wounding the kid[[note]]It was rare bordering on impossible for a cute kid to have any impact on an episode's plot without soon being killed off due to Creator/JMichaelStraczynski having a stated hatred of cute kids and robots in science fiction television[[/note]].
* ''Series/The100'' has Bellamy repeatedly use air vents to get around in Mount Weather without being seen. Possibly {{justified|Trope}} since Mount Weather is a large facility that needs a huge air filtration system to filter out radiation from the surface; if any place is going to have person sized air vents, it'd probably be them.
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': In "Karma to Burn", when Finn and D.B.'s granddaughter Katie are kidnapped, Finn is able to pry open a vent cover to allow Katie to crawl out (her being small enough to fit in the vent). However, she is immediately recaptured.
* ''Series/Space1999'': The Alpha Base air vents are of realistic size, and their openings quite tiny, but this is not a problem for Maya, since she can [[VoluntaryShapeshifting turn into a mouse]] before crawling into them.
* In one episode of ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'', four of the Gokaigers are captured and put in a cell with an obvious one of these. They try to use it to escape, only to find the villain who captured them standing at the other end.
* ''Series/TheNewAvengers'': In "The Deadly Angels", Purdey gets into the maze in the health farm by crawling through the vents.
* Parker of ''Series/TheKicks'' seems to consider this a viable form of travel: In "Head Games", she suggests crawling through the school vents to search for Devin's headband. She suggests it again in "Go Big or Go Home" as a method of looking around for Devin and Mirabelle.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. In "Razgovor", Shaw and the POI escape into the air vents of an old apartment building, only to be flushed out when the villains puncture the air conditioning system, causing [[KnockoutGas chlorodifluoromethane to flood into the vents]].
* Used in the Hulu series ''Freakish'' to navigate the school and get into a chemistry lab without running afoul of the "freaks" (basically zombies). Justified in that the people crawling through the vent are Zoe and Amber, the smallest members of the cast, and the vents in question lead to a chemistry lab, which would need somewhat larger vents than the rest of the school.
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. In "Redemption", Blake is apparently cornered when an elderly man opens a hidden door and urges him inside. "It's an old service lift. Those young guards, they don't even know it exists."
* ''Series/WonderWoman'': Used by Havitol to steal IRAC in "IRAC Is Missing".
* In the ''Series/MiamiVice'' episode "Baby Blues," crooked adoption lawyer Famiglia crawls through a very spacious ventilation system, complete with ladders between floors, so he can shoot the mother of one of his victims through the grate.

Some large universities (MIT and Caltech in particular) have longstanding "steam tunnel spelunkers" clubs, who often use air ducts (among other things) for exploring, getting around campus quickly, or pulling off pranks. Readers of this trope should be advised that this is '''[[DontTryThisAtHome extremely]]''' {{d|ontTryThisAtHome}}angerous, not to mention illegal -- steam tunnels are usually hot, cramped, and frequently criss-crossed by scalding-hot piping, and explorers face trespassing charges and possible academic sanctions if they're discovered within[[labelnote:*]]In other words, [[Literature/HarryPotter you could get killed -- or worse, expelled!]][[/labelnote]].

* In the ''Series/MiamiVice'' episode "Baby Blues," crooked adoption lawyer Famiglia crawls through a very spacious ventilation system, complete with ladders between floors, so he can shoot the mother of one of his victims through the vent.

*** In "The Trouble With Tribbles", Scotty speculates that the tribbles got into the food processors on the ''Enterprise'' via the actual air vents. Spock realizes that the grain the ''Enterprise'' is guarding on the nearby space station is in storage compartments with similar vents, prompting Kirk to beam over and leading to the episode's CrowningMomentOfFunny.

-->-- [[http://www.avforums.com/threads/the-hollywood-rule-book.32262 "Hollywood Rule Book"]], Vanity Fair

It's the only move on the part of a villain that's stupider than LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard (or any room with [[BedsheetLadder a bed]]). When heroes find themselves trapped in a room with all doors and windows locked, the quickest exit is always through the ventilation duct. Air vents also work excellently in reverse for breaking ''in'' and infiltrating a facility, as well.

Some large universities (MIT and Caltech in particular) have longstanding "steam tunnel spelunkers" clubs, who often use air ducts (among other things) for exploring, getting around campus quickly, or pulling off pranks. Readers of this trope should be advised that [[DontTryThisAtHome this is]] '''[[DontTryThisAtHome extremely]]''' [[DontTryThisAtHome dangerous]], not to mention illegal -- steam tunnels are usually hot, cramped, and frequently criss-crossed by scalding-hot piping, and explorers face trespassing charges and possible academic sanctions if they're discovered within[[labelnote:*]]In other words, [[Literature/HarryPotter you could get killed -- or worse, expelled!]][[/labelnote]].

[[folder: Audio Plays]]

* Occurs in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[AlternateUniverse AU]] ''[[FanFic/ThePadmeAUs The Part to Be Played]]''.

** Still in ''Film/ANewHope'' : while it is generally regarded as the arch-[[AerialCanyonChase Aerial Canyon Chase]], the Death Star penetration scene is much of an Air Vent Passageway occurence of [[TheInfiltration The Infiltration]], with plenty of Canyon Chase topping on it. The combination of the two tropes is precisely the trick that fools Darth Vader and gets Luke that [[GoldenEnding Golden Ending]].

* The unaired pilot ''{{I-Man}}'' subverts and {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this one: Scott Bakula references it as an escape plan... and then finds out that the room only has a regular air vent.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', and initially without weapons, as a FakeDifficulty. This can be avoided by putting Ayla in your party, as she fights with her bare fists. The other two in your party, however, will just watch and not even try to help, even if they know powerful magic, or are a metal killing machine.

** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2: Episode 1'' by mentioning that Freeman used to participate in races to break into Dr. Kleiner's office when he locked his keys inside. Naturally, the air vents are now full of headcrabs. And subverted in the same game, where one vent you crawl through collapses, landing in a room filled with ExplodingBarrels and laser-tripwire mines.

* And so does ''VideoGame/SystemShock''. The second game almost starts with one, and the first game had whole maintenance tunnels in addition to vents.

*** During the suicide mission, the chosen Tech Expert has to move through a duct, while the player has to fight off the Collectors in order to open the valves for him/her/it. That instance should probably count as a subversion, in that the game makes very clear how ''very'' dangerous it is, and that the tech expert would have died, hideously, were it not for Shepard's help. At some points you can see them and the ducts are actually tall enough to let them ''walk through''.

* In 1992, convicted murderer Richard Lee McNair and two other inmates escaped from North Dakota State Penitentiary by crawling through an air vent in an education room and making their way to the roof of the building. After crossing several more rooftops, they dropped 15 feet to the ground outside the main wall and escaped. The other two inmates were apprehended within hours, but McNair remained free for 10 months before being re-arrested.

* Played straight in a book based on the DonkeyKongCountry series, Donkey Kong was trying to get to a room containing an auto defense system in a building being built by Kremlings. As he tries to think of a way to get to the 8th floor without being seen, he hears guards coming, and goes into a nearby ventilation shaft. It's big enough to crawl through, and even has signs pointing him in the right direction.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In the first two seasons, Ezra Bridger spends a ''lot'' of time crawling around in ducts. The fact that he's a scrawny, underfed teenager helps a great deal. By Season 3 he's had a growth spurt, [[RealityEnsues so he can't do this anymore]].

Some large universities (MIT and Caltech in particular) have longstanding "steam tunnel spelunkers" clubs, who often use air ducts (among other things) for exploring, getting around campus quickly, or pulling off pranks. Readers of this trope should be advised that [[DontTryThisAtHome this is]] '''[[DontTryThisAtHome extremely]]''' [[DontTryThisAtHome dangerous]], not to mention illegal -- steam tunnels are usually hot, cramped, and frequently criss-crossed by scalding-hot piping, and explorers face trespassing charges and possible academic sanctions if they're discovered within.

* Naturally ''Film/AntMan'' finds this trope easier than others, but a ProperlyParanoid BigBad puts micromesh across the ventilators, so our hero has to get inside the building first [[DownTheDrain via the water pipes]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Cat and the Claw, part one", ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} uses the air vents to escape from the Multigon offices.

* In ''Film/{{Dawn of the Dead|1978}}'', the main characters use the mall's air vents to access the stores that are locked with gates.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', sneaking through air vents is sometimes the only way to advance from one area of a palace to another.