Helicopter rescue lifts injured hiker from Waipo‘o Falls Trail in Kōkee
An ankle injury on Waipo‘o Falls Trail triggered a short-haul helicopter rescue and a hospital transfer from Kōkee State Park.
A 53-year-old female visitor was flown off Waipo‘o Falls Trail in Kōkee State Park after an ankle injury left her unable to hike out on Wednesday, June 24. Kaua‘i Fire Department personnel received the distress report shortly after 11:40 a.m. and sent Waimea Fire Station crews, Rescue 3 aboard Air 1 and the on-duty battalion chief to the trail.
First responders found the hiker on the trail with what appeared to be an ankle injury and medically assessed her before beginning the extraction. Crews used an Aerial Rescue Vest to short-haul her to the NASA landing zone, then loaded her into the helicopter for a second flight to the Waimea Canyon Baseball Park landing zone. American Medical Response took over there and moved her on for further assessment at a local hospital, with the scene cleared shortly before 2 p.m.
The operation showed how quickly a trail injury can become a multi-agency rescue on Kaua‘i’s steep, remote routes. Waipo‘o Falls is one of Kōkee’s most visited destinations, but once a hiker cannot safely descend, the response can require aircraft, landing-zone coordination and a handoff to ambulance crews, not just a walk-out from the trailhead. For visitors who are not used to the terrain, the difference between a manageable outing and a helicopter lift can be a single slip, twist or misstep.
It was not the first time county crews had to make that call at Waipo‘o Falls. Three days earlier, on Sunday, June 21, firefighters rescued another injured hiker near the falls after a report came in shortly after 11:15 a.m. That patient was a 47-year-old female visitor from California, and responders again determined that short-haul helicopter work was necessary.
The back-to-back rescues underscored a recurring public-safety burden on Kaua‘i’s outdoor spaces. Every airlift draws on county fire personnel, aircraft, medics and hospital access, and Waipo‘o Falls has become a place where an apparently routine day hike can end with a helicopter, a landing-zone transfer and a ride to care in the same afternoon.
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