MORGAN COUNTY, W.Va. — A young girl was rescued by the Maryland State Police Aviation Command Tuesday night after her car left a road and fell down a 70-foot embankment above the Cacapon River.
Maryland State Police said a 19-year-old woman was traveling on a road near the Maryland, West Virginia border when she became trapped in her car after plunging down into the ravine. Flight crews responded to the incident just after 7:35 p.m. on Power House Road in Morgan County, West Virginia.
Police said aerial rescue was needed due to the extent of the woman’s injuries, the car’s position in the ravine, and because of the steep terrain.
The woman was extricated and treated for her injuries before crews placed her in an inflatable raft. She was then floated down river to an accessible hoisting point.
From there, police said pilots on Trooper 5 from the Cumberland Section, operated an August AW139 helicopter 130-feet above the access point. A trooper/paramedic was lowered down to the woman, securing her in a patient extrication platform.
The Great Cacapon Volunteer Fire Co. and rescuers from Allegany and Washington counties assisted in the rescue mission.
The woman was flown to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland for further treatment.