Video shows dramatic rescue after car plunges off Pacific Coast Highway

Video shows dramatic rescue after car careens off Pacific Coast Highway - The Washington Post

A California aviation unit was dispatched last week to help rescue a woman whose car had plunged into the Pacific Ocean, so crew chief John Burt grabbed his helmet — with a GoPro attached — and started the helicopter’s engine.

In the next few minutes, a paramedic sealed the driver into a rescue bag, and Burt raised them to the helicopter for safety. He caught the whole scene on his GoPro.

While Burt said the Ventura County Aviation Unit usually records rescues to review them, he felt the setting made the footage from last Friday’s endeavor look extra dramatic. That night, he posted the video on social media so people could see for themselves the extreme views he experiences on a regular basis.

“While this one I know we [ended] up in the spotlight … most of our stuff is outside of the public eye,” Burt, 41, told The Washington Post.

Rescue this afternoon on the PCH for a vehicle that drove off the road into the ocean. Single occupant rescued from the water by ground teams, hoisted to the helicopter, and flown to Los Robles Regional Medical Center.— VenturaCoAirUnit (@VCAirUnit)
@VENTURASHERIFF @VCFD #rescue #pacific #ocean #helicopter pic.twitter.com/9misT3Cw12 June 10, 2023

An 18-year-old woman from Ojai, Calif., was driving on the Pacific Coast Highway on June 9 when she lost control, the California Highway Patrol said in a statement. Her silver Mercedes-Benz plunged about 60 feet off a rocky hill and landed upside down in the ocean, Burt said. She cracked open her door to escape and clung to rocks as waves crashed against the shoreline, Burt said.

A bystander reported the accident near Malibu, Calif., around 1:10 p.m., and the county’s fire department rushed to the scene. Burt, a senior deputy with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, was at a Camarillo Airport hangar when the fire department asked for assistance minutes later.

The fall from the highway is often fatal, Burt said. But when Burt’s crew arrived, firefighters had helped the driver get off the rocks and out of the water and were treating her major injuries, Burt said.

“Being able to pull herself out of the vehicle while upside down in the water was more remarkable than anything we did,” Burt said.

On the ground, a paramedic placed the driver in a rescue bag attached to a backboard so she could be moved without suffering further injuries. Then from the sky, Burt lowered a cable, which the paramedic hooked to the rescue bag.

After about two minutes, the driver was in the helicopter and flown to Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif. On Thursday, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said the driver was in stable condition.

Burt said he has performed dozens of similar rescues after car wrecks and hiking accidents. Even when he was attending school to become a deputy sheriff in 2007, he loved watching the nearby aviation unit leave for a job and return after helping save someone’s life. After serving as a law enforcement officer and detective for more than a decade, Burt transitioned to working in rescue aviation in 2020.

He was in awe of the GoPro video when he reviewed it the night after the Pacific Ocean rescue.

“Being able to be a small part in somebody’s life, no matter what it is, is rewarding,” he said.