Video Shows Dramatic Helicopter Rescue of Man Stranded Along Big Sur Coast

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) on October 17 released video of a helicopter rescue of a man said to have fallen into the ocean off Big Sur on October 14.

The man dragged himself out of the sea but was then stranded on a rocky, brushy outcrop next to McWay Falls, a waterfall that drops into the ocean at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

The CHP praised the pilot for holding the helicopter “completely steady with only a small portion of the left skid touching the rock.” The pilot’s “technical competence” allowed a paramedic to walk out and help the man onto the helicopter to safety, the CHP said. Credit: CHP – Coastal Division Air Operations via Storyful