Driver waits two days for rescue after 400-foot plunge to beach, California cops say
A California Highway Patrol airplane searching for a missing driver along the coast spotted the man waving a makeshift flag beside a wreck on a remote beach, rescuers reported.
The driver had waited two days for rescue after swerving to miss a deer and plunging 400 feet down a steep slope in Big Sur, the California Highway Patrol said in a news release.
He vanished while driving home from work Sunday, Feb. 25, at the Post Ranch Inn, officers said.
The luxury resort in Big Sur is popular with celebrities, KRON reported.
On Tuesday, Feb. 27, a CHP airplane searched along the coast for the man and spotted him with a flag near his wrecked vehicle on a beach not visible from the road, officers said.
A firefighter roped down to the beach while a CHP helicopter responded, officers said. The man said he crashed while swerving to miss a deer and fell out of his vehicle’s sunroof while it rolled 400 feet to the beach below.
The beach had no access or trails, leaving the man stranded until help arrived two days later.
The CHP helicopter arrived and airlifted the driver, who had moderate injuries, to a hospital.
Big Sur is about 140 miles south of San Francisco.
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