Northern Territory Police are on the hunt for two teenage escapees from Darwin's Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, who allegedly carjacked a woman on the Stuart Highway before fleeing south to Tennant Creek in her stolen car.

Key points: Josiah Binsaris and Trey Mawson escaped Don Dale on Wednesday and headed south in a stolen car with two other youths

Josiah Binsaris and Trey Mawson escaped Don Dale on Wednesday and headed south in a stolen car with two other youths Binsaris, Mawson, and one of the others carjacked a woman near Renner Springs

Binsaris, Mawson, and one of the others carjacked a woman near Renner Springs In Tennant Creek they rammed a police car

In Tennant Creek they rammed a police car The community feels let down by systemic failures in corrections, says MLA Terry Mills

Police said Josiah Binsaris and Trey Mawson, who escaped from the centre on Wednesday night, were thought to be on foot around Katherine and urged residents there to be vigilant in case the pair stole other cars.

Earlier, Binsaris and Mawson, who are both aged 17, left Darwin with two other youths in a stolen vehicle before running out of fuel between Renner Springs and Tennant Creek, almost 1,000 kilometres south.

"The stolen vehicle's been parked on the Stuart Highway with its hazard lights activated, and the occupants flagged down a passing motorist," Duty Superintendent Rob Farmer said.

"When the vehicle stopped, they forced the female occupant from her car ... the offenders then left the woman on the side of the road and drove south."

The woman was picked up by a work colleague who was driving along behind her and called police when they returned within mobile phone range.

'I've been hijacked!'

At the Renner Springs Desert Inn Roadhouse, owner Christine Revell was on the lookout for the boys, having been advised by Elliott police they were on their way south and would need fuel.

"We were on the lookout to shut down the bowsers and lock the doors," she said.

"A lady raced into the shop, she came screaming in, saying, 'I've been hijacked, please call the police'.

Binsaris has escaped from Don Dale several times in the past, once breaking back in. ( Department of Correctional Services )

"She was obviously traumatised, because she came screaming into the shop, she was obviously petrified."

Further south in Tennant Creek, police spotted the car but were not able to stop it, and then spotted it again as it was heading out of town at about 4:20pm on Thursday, Duty Superintendent Farmer said.

"Initially the vehicle pulled over but then made a U-turn and rammed the police vehicle, rendering it undriveable," he said.

"Thankfully the police officer was uninjured."

The car headed back to Tennant Creek and the search continues, with police investigating reports of a stolen gold Nissan X-Trail in Tennant Creek on Friday morning, which they say may be linked to Binsaris and Mawson.

Motorists warned not to pick up hitchhikers

Residents are being warned to be on the lookout for the youths but not to approach them and call police immediately, while motorists are being warned not to pick up hitchhikers, and to use care when driving between Katherine and Alice Springs.

The carjacking victim fled to Renner Springs to call the police, said road house owner Christine Revell. ( Vanpacking Australia )

The stolen Toyota Landcruiser is branded Bachelor Institute, police said.

Duty Superintendent Farmer said one of the 17-year-olds who was travelling with the escapees was picked up by police in the community of Elliott on Thursday night, where he had left the group.

The search for Binsaris, Mawson and their associate continues.

Binsaris has escaped the centre several times before, most notoriously in 2015 when he and another detainee absconded and were on the run for two days before smashing through the centre's roller doors in a stolen car and doing doughnuts within the grounds.

He was also part of the group of six youths who were teargassed in Don Dale's Behaviour Management Unit in 2014, the incident that sparked the NT royal commission, which is ongoing.

Sorry, this video has expired 'Escaped' Darwin teens return to youth detention centre to do burnouts

Community 'feel let down' over continued escapes

In an interview on local commercial radio, independent Member for Blain Terry Mills said the continued escapes were damaging public confidence.

"I'm concerned that our community are losing confidence in the instruments that are there to fix a very deep problem," he said.

"I'm also concerned the message from Government is casting it as though this problem has only occurred in the last four years … sadly I've observed these things for nearly 20 years."

He said the issues with the NT's corrections system were systemic, not political.

He also said the royal commission was delaying "really robust reforms" and was having a psychological effect on policing and the community.

"Treating the system with contempt as these young people obviously are, they don't seem to care what's going to happen, they don't care what they do to other people," Mr Mills said.

"We've got a system that makes it pretty hard for the police … to apprehend someone, get them before the legal system and then get them into jail, and now they get out.

"The community feel pretty well let down by this... there seems to have been 16 hours before there was advice (from the government) that this had occurred."

The royal commission is holding back the NT from making "robust reforms", Terry Mills said. ( AAP )

Attorney-General Natasha Fyles said the latest escape highlighted the issues the Government was facing with detention.

"Absolutely, this is unacceptable," she said.

The chief executive of the Department of Territory Families will be visiting Don Dale on Friday to review the situation, including whether supervision is tight enough and whether the classification of prisoners was accurate enough, Ms Fyles said.

The new Don Dale facility is in the former adult prison at Berrimah in Darwin, with adult prisoners now housed at the new Holtz prison complex outside of the city.