OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — The 1993 Jeep Cherokee that plunged 450 feet off the side of Hurricane Ridge Road on Feb. 25 was hoisted out by helicopter Tuesday afternoon and towed away.
“Everything went very well,” said Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes.
The crew of a K-Max aerial lift helicopter from the Timberline Helicopter Co., which had been working on timber sale along Little River Road, fit the hoist into the end of its workday, she said.
First locking clips were attached to the vehicle.
Then shortly after 5 p.m., pilot Ryan Jorgensen of Laclede, Idaho, maneuvered the helicopter to the south side of the Hurricane Ridge Road lookout.
He flew in a half circle, picked up the Jeep using 180 feet of cable, and set it down on the roadside lookout before flying off.
Peninsula Towing used a flatbed trailer to haul the Cherokee away.
No cost estimates were available for the operation.
Only minor injuries
Ryan L. Brumbagh, 21, and Jennifer M. Maurer, 22, both of Seattle, suffered only minor injuries when the Cherokee they were driving veered off Hurricane Ridge Road between the two tunnels and plunged down the embankment about 3.5 miles south of the Heart O’ The Hills entrance station.
The K-Max light lift helicopter was manufactured by Kaman Aerospace Co. in Bloomfield, Conn.
It can carry suspended loads up to 6,000 pounds and is used for forestry, logging, construction, agricultural work, surveillance and transportation — and plucking cars at the bottom of a wilderness road embankment.
