Teens Airlifted After Car Plunges 80 Feet Down Kīpahulu Ravine

ʻOheʻo Gulch in East Maui region of Kīpahulu. File photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

Two teens were airlifted to safety after the vehicle they were in went off the side of the Hāna Highway, falling 80 feet down a ravine in Kīpahulu, fire officials said.

Authorities say the vehicle landed upside down, about a half mile west of ʻOheʻo Gulch in East Maui at around 9:55 a.m. on Sunday, June 1, 2014.

According to department reports, the occupants, an 18-year-old male, and a 17-year-old female, were able to make their way out of the vehicle, but were airlifted, one at a time, by crews aboard the Fire Department’s Air 1 helicopter to a secured landing zone.

Both victims were then transported via ambulance to the Maui Memorial Medical Center in stable condition with head and neck injuries, said Maui Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga.