Teenager Rescued After Point Reyes Cliff Plunge
POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE (CBS SF) - A helicopter rescue unit pulled off a difficult beach rescue Sunday evening after a teenager fell down a cliff in the Point Reyes National Seashore, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A 16-year-old girl fell about 100 feet to the beach near the bottom of Alamere Falls, along the Marin County coast, and suffered a serious leg injury, CHP officials said.
A request was made for CHP helicopter assistance at about 6 p.m.
The rescue was complicated by the remoteness of the location, rain, rising tides and increasing darkness, according to the CHP.
The helicopter was forced to land on a narrow strip of beach where it performed a "toe landing," with the front part of the helicopter's skids on the ground and the rear part of the skids hovering about 6 inches above the sand and waves, according to the CHP.
The victim was successfully loaded onto the helicopter and flown to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.
Park rangers and Marin County paramedics assisted in the rescue.
(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)
