A helicopter team rescued a man who drove his car off a 200 foot cliff on the coast of Sonoma County, California. Apparently his car automatically alerted emergency responders that it had crashed along Highway 1 approximately two north of San Francisco. Video below.
According to a Facebook post by the Sonoma Sheriff, "A Ranger with the California State Parks located the vehicle approximately 200 feet down from the roadway. A large tree stopped the vehicle from rolling further down the cliff. The State Parks Ranger climbed down the steep embankment to check the vehicle for occupants."
With nobody in sight, the first responders called in a helicopter from the Coast Life Support District and rescuers dropped in by rope to conduct "an extensive search of the rugged terrain looking for anyone who may have been ejected or who escaped the wreckage."
The team spotted the driver about 350 feet down from the crashed car. They lifted the victim into the helicopter where he was flown to another chopper that took him to a local trauma hospital. While critically injured, the man is expected to survive.
(Thanks, Chanté McCormick!)
Previously: Search and Rescue operation over Muir Beach, CA
