A man trapped on a 500-foot cliff was rescued by a California helicopter crew on Thursday.
According to the authorities, the man was clung to safety on the face of Mussel Rock near Daly City in San Mateo County amid the high winds in California.
In a statement released by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Golden Gate Division Air Operations, the rescue operation got underway after a local fisherman spotted the man clinging to a cliff about halfway down Mussel Rock around 5:10 p.m. The concerned resident then called the fire department.
Authorities also revealed that the rescuers had to use CHP Helicopter H-30 after the man’s precarious position prevented ground rescuers from locating him.
The fire officials then called the CHP for assistance. Officials determined that a helicopter rescue would be safest and responded which immediately located the victim.
“We had to do a short search. We weren’t sure where he was on the cliff we couldn’t see him,” pilot Brent Marker said.
Moreover, after the man was located, the rescue wasn’t as easy as anyone thought to be as the CHP pilot battled challenging winds while hovering 100 feet over the cliff and lowering an officer down to the victim.
“Despite challenging winds, the helicopter spotted the man and lowered a rescuer to him,” CHP officers said.
In a video footage released by the authorities which was captured by the CHP officer’s helmet camera, the rescuer can be seen directing the chopper as he is lowered to the victim’s location on the cliff face.
The footage also showed him reaching the stranded man, and strapping a harness around the victim as both of them started hoisting off the cliff.
After a chopper landed with the victim and the officer, the man was handed over to fire officials.
Authorities have also confirmed that there were no injuries reported. However, it was still unclear how the man became stranded halfway down the cliff face. The CHP did not also provide any information on his medical condition.
At the time of writing, Daly City is a community of more than 104,000 people south of San Francisco.
