California Woman Injured on Zipline Course

By Wendy Osher

A 43-year-old California woman was airlifted to safety after suffering an injury while ziplining at a course in Central Maui.

The incident was reported at 10:22 a.m. at the Tropical Plantation Zipline in Waikapu.

Maui Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga said the woman suffered a femur fracture to her left leg as she was coming down the zipline and landing on the tower.

The injury was considered life-threatening and the woman was airlifted off the tower to a landing zone in front of the plantation, authorities said.

Officials said the woman, from Fremont, California, was on the middle tower, approximately 40-feet high, and accessible only by air or zipline.

Two fire personnel and a medic were dispatched to assess the patient.  They applied a traction splint, secured her on to a backboard, and placed her in to a stokes basket, said Chief Mainaga.

The woman was transported by ambulance to the Maui Memorial Medical Center in serious but stable condition, according to Maui County Paramedics Association Interim spokesperson Steven Rossi.

Crews assisting in the rescue included the Medic 1 ambulance from Wailuku, Engine 1 from Wailuku, Rescue 10 from Kahului, and the Maui Fire Department’s Air 1 helicopter.