WATCH: Helicopter Rescues Man Stranded On 500-Foot Cliff In California
By Bill Galluccio
May 22, 2022
**CHP HELICOPTER CLIFF RESCUE** Daly City, San Mateo, CA – Thursday at approximately 5:10 PM., CHP Helicopter H-30 was requested by the Daly City Fire Department to respond to Mussel Rock and assist them with a cliff rescue. A local fisherman called in and reported a male victim clinging to a vertical cliff wall, approximately half way down a 500 foot cliff. Due to his location ground rescuers were unable to locate him. CHP Helicopter H-30 arrived overhead and located the victim. Due to his location, it was determined that a helicopter rescue would be the safest and most efficient way to remove the victim from the cliff face. Despite challenging winds, the CHP Pilot maneuvered H-30 100 feet over the scene while a CHP Officer/Paramedic simultaneously hoisted a second CHP Officer/Paramedic down to the victim. The victim was placed into a rescue harness and both he and the officer were short-hauled to a nearby landing zone where the victim was transferred from the helicopter to awaiting Daly City Fire and AMR personnel. The California Highway Patrol Golden Gate Division Air Operations unit, based at the Napa County Airport, operates four aircraft (two airplanes and two helicopters) which patrol the 9 Bay Area Counties, approximately 6,923 square miles that is home to a residential population of more than 7 million people. The helicopter is routinely staffed with a CHP Officer/Pilot and a CHP Officer/Paramedic. The helicopter is equipped with a rescue hoist that can lift patients and/or rescuers to and from challenging terrain. #californiahighwaypatrol #chp #chpcareers #lawenforcement #chips #cops #chpmadeformore #police #airrescue #helicopterrescue #airmedics #flightofficer #helicopters
Posted by CHP - Golden Gate Division Air Operations on Friday, May 20, 2022
Dramatic video captured a daring helicopter rescue of a man who found himself stranded on a 500-foot cliff in California. A fisherman spotted the man stuck on Mussel Rock, which is near Daly City in San Mateo County.
The California Highway Patrol determined it was nearly impossible for rescuers to scale the cliff to rescue the man and requested a helicopter to reach him.
The CHP dispatched an H-30 helicopter, which had to battle high winds as an officer was hoisted down to the victim.
"We were battling 30-40 knot winds," Brent Marker, who was piloting the helicopter, told KGO.
He placed the man in a rescue harness, and the two were transported to a nearby landing zone, where they were met by paramedics. The man was not injured but was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
"Miraculously, he had only scrapes and bruises, that's about it," flight officer and paramedic David Arias to the news station. "He was pretty grateful to see us and ready to get off the cliff for sure."
Officials did not say how the man ended up stranded on the cliff face.