Daring helicopter rescue saves woman after 80-foot plunge into CA canyon, video shows

A woman hiking with her husband Thursday plunged 80 feet into a Big Sur, California, canyon, becoming lodged beneath a fallen redwood tree, California Highway Patrol rescuers say.

The accident happened on Soberanes Canyon Trail near Garrapata State Park near Highway 1, the CHP reported on Facebook.

Ground rescuers found the woman had major injuries and requested an airlift by a CHP helicopter.

The helicopter had to navigate through tall trees to reach the canyon, then lower a rescue basket and paramedic to the canyon floor before airlifting her out, officers wrote.

Without the aerial assistance, removing the woman from the canyon would have taken hours, the CHP reported. The agency did not release information on the woman’s condition.

This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Daring helicopter rescue saves woman after 80-foot plunge into CA canyon, video shows."