The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a man Monday afternoon after he fell nearly 800 feet into the dormant volcano at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. Incredibly the man not only survived but was able to walk to rescue under his own power.
WFTV reports The National Park Service were first the scene, lowering a rescue team 600 feet down the sheer wall of the caldera but they couldn’t reach him:
“The District 3 team reported they could hear a man yelling from further down into the caldera.”
They then called in the US Coast Guard to hoist the man out with a helicopter. The helicopter rescue was successful and he was transported to a local hospital for treatment. His condition is not known:
Here’s the press release from U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest:
“The Coast Guard rescued a man who fell into the Crater Lake caldera, Monday afternoon, assisting the Crater Lake National ParkService and a District 3 Technical Rope Rescue Team.
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from U.S. Coast Guard Sector North Bendhoisted the man out of the caldera and transferred him to an AirLink Critical Care Transport team who flew the injured man to Bend for care and treatment.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Bend received a call at 3:47 p.m., from the Crater Lake National Park Service rangers requesting helicopter support for an injured man who fell into Crater Lake’s caldera near Rims Village.
The Coast Guard aircrew arrived on scene at 4:28 p.m. with the District 3 rope team already 600 feet down into the caldera. The District 3 team reported they could hear a man yelling from further down into the caldera.
The aircrew was hovering above the injured man within 15 minutes of arriving on scene and conducted the hoist before landing in a nearby parking lot and transferring the injured man to the AirLink helicopter crew. The aircrew departed Crater Lake at 5:27 p.m., stopped in Roseburg to refuel and returned to North Bend.
The condition of the injured man is unknown at this time.”
