21-Year-Old Man Survives After Car Plunges 200-Feet Into Grand Canyon
- Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:00pm by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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PHOENIX (AP) — National Park Service rangers were trying to figure out Wednesday how a man’s car left a roadway and plunged into the Grand Canyon, narrowly avoiding a fatal free-fall to the bottom of the gorge.
The car ended up lodged against a tree about 200 feet below the South Rim of the canyon, Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge said. Another precipice began just 10 feet beyond where the man’s car stopped.
A park visitor reported finding the injured 21-year-old man along a stretch of Desert View Drive at about 7:45 p.m. Monday. The man told the visitor he had accidently driven his vehicle over the edge of the canyon.
He told responding park rangers that he had extricated himself from the crashed vehicle and climbed up to the rim to seek help.
The driver was treated at Flagstaff Medical Center for non-life threatening injuries, Oltrogge said. She declined to release the man’s identity or hometown until park rangers have finished their investigation.
The crash happened about 6 miles east of the Grand Canyon Village near a spot known as Twin Overlooks.
The man’s car was still at the scene on Wednesday and park officials were beginning to develop a plan to retrieve it, Oltrogge said. In similar cases, officials have used a heavy lift helicopter to pull out vehicles that have driven off the canyon’s edge.
Such accidents are rare, and some have involved attempted or actual suicides, although authorities would not say if they suspected that in Monday’s crash.
A California man intentionally drove his car off the canyon’s edge in July 2009 from the parking lot of the famed El Tovar Hotel. In December, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report cited the Grand Canyon as second in the nation among national parks for suicides. The CDC report cited 11 suicides and 10 attempts between 2003 and 2009 at the park along the Arizona-Utah line.
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Netsurfer2
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:20pmHe must have been driving miss daisy!
Hope he contributes to the future!
Report Post »lylejk
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 2:43pmI would say he is a lucky man, but then again, he did loose his truck. :)
Psalm 109:8
Report Post »http://www.biblegateway.com/…/passage/?search=Psalm%20109:8&version=KJV
OLDBIKEFIXER
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:49amSo now the Federal Gub’nint is gonna require all cars to be fitted with parachutes. And they better to be able to withstand a Grand Canyon fall without leaking any fluids onto the ground.
Report Post »anutter
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 6:54amWatch that first drop, it’s a doozy!
Report Post »dpselfe
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 6:38amA guide I spoke with at the Grand Canyon described the events when one falls there: “You fall for about 400 feet, and the first hit breaks most of your bones. The second hit drives them through your vital organs, and that’s usually what kills you.”
So it would seem that one might be very conscious and aware of what is coming. Not my choice for suicide, but definitely one of the more spectacular ways to go!
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 6:20amAh, it’s Mike Mercury & Supercar
Report Post »mrmikejohnson
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 1:16amYou don‘t drive a car into the Grand Canyon unless it’s a suicide attempt. The way it’s set up, it’s impossible to accidentally drive your car off the road into the canyon, especially at the south rim. My guess is that this guy didn’t expect to hit a tree and survive. He expected to go all the way down and die.
Report Post »Old Paint
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:54amIt was Obama and Louise: http://www.cafepress.com/Hang_Em_All.465734106
Report Post »LMW
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:39amI don’t believe he was really in the car for a 200 ft plunge and then crawled up? More to this story I think.
Report Post »tbtall
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:11amCaught by a tree. Opposite of a tree-hugger, but it worked out. This guy certainly will have a renewed purpose in life.
Report Post »OLDBIKEFIXER
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 9:52amOh, I betcha he was huggin’ that tree for at least a little while…
Report Post »Bennie Franklin
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:05amHe just finished watching Thelma and Louise obviously.
Report Post »Mustangrider
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:58pmHe must have forgotten the golden rule, “never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly”
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:41pmWow, he was able to climb back up to to top. His guardian angel deserves a medal.
Report Post »@RCHER
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:33pmC’mon! I already heard this Darwin award story. Wait…what? No JATO pack and this guy LIVES?!
Report Post »LIVINGTHEDREAM
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:19pmTexting and driving?
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:10pmMaybe he could give some pointers on how to survive crashes to our economy.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:10pmWhat was he smokin’?
Report Post »miles from nowhere
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:10pmHis middle name is LUCKY
Report Post »concealled9mms
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:08pmwell hell if you cant afford to fill the damn thing with gas you might as well get rid of it.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:25pmYou’re supposed to get out first.
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:33pmLol!
Report Post »JP4JOY
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:05pmIt would take a serious effort to find an opening to drive your car over the rim, most access points are car-proof.
Report Post »Mustangrider
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:56pmJP The canyon has many miles of road where there is no barrier of any kind and a quick wrong turn and you’re airborne. Many people die there each year walking to the edge and losing footing.
Report Post »Poke93
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:03am“Many” people accidentally die at the Grand Canyon every year? Why have I never heard of this?
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:02pmWas he driving a car from the Acme Co? Hmm…a RoadRunner?
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:07pmHE was distracted by Thelma and Louise.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:08pmRegradless of intent; God seems to have plans for this one………….
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:09pmAfter a plunge like that He is one lucky dude…Next stop Niagara??
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:34pmIncredible luck and the hand of God keeping him alive in this case. Could he have been trying to redo the jump of evil Kenivel over the canyon?
Report Post »miketheartist
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:14amNo, it was a nice, pretty Leaf. He wanted to see if he could just float to the bottom.
Report Post »BlazingPatriot
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:35amWas that old coyote was chasing him ??
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYQsZuh2CM&feature=related
Huguenot Descendant
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 12:42amIf he had a flying car this wouldn’t of happened.
Report Post »theonefromabove
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 1:41amHad a little too much to drink.
http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos
Report Post »watchmany2k
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 2:21amOddly enough we had a husband toss his wife off a cliff, and she dragged him with her.
I actually did some math to calculate how they could survive a fall off a 800 foot cliff.
http://www.watchman2012.com
Look for “The case of the Flying Wife”
The math proves it could not have been freefall…
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on April 28, 2011 at 1:48pmI suppose that the tree will now file a lawsuit against the car and driver. He may have been distracted by the view but for whatever reason he is very lucky he hit the tree and did not go to the bottom.
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