Kauai Firefighters Airlift 76-Year-Old Visitor After 30-Foot Kuilau Fall
Kauaʻi Fire Department airlifted a 76-year-old visitor from California after he fell about 30 feet from the Kuilau Trail and was short‑hauled to the Loop Road landing zone.
A Kauaʻi Fire Department crew rescued a 76-year-old man visiting from California after he fell approximately 30 feet from the Kuilau Trail in Wailua on Wednesday, March 4. Emergency dispatch received the report shortly before 11:45 a.m., and the scene was cleared shortly after 12:50 p.m.
According to Hawaii News Now’s preliminary report, first responders discovered the injured hiker about two miles into the trail, holding on to vegetation on the cliffside to avoid falling further. The discovery location matches Kauai Now’s account that personnel found the man roughly two miles in and stabilizing himself on the slope.
Personnel with Rescue 3 aboard Air 1 responded to the incident, Hawaii News Now and Kauai Now both reported. The hiker was extracted using an aerial rescue vest (ARV) and was short‑hauled to the Loop Road landing zone, agencies said. Hawaii News Now’s copy used the phrase, “The hiker was extracted using an Arial Rescue Vest (ARV) and short hauled to the Loop Rd landing zone,” while Kauai Now reported the extraction as “using an aerial rescue vest and short‑hauled to the Loop Road landing zone.”
Upon landing at the Loop Road landing zone, the man was transferred to American Medical Response for further medical care, both outlets reported. No source provided the victim’s name, specific injuries, or hospital destination.
Hawaii News Now’s page included a photo showing the approximate location where the man was found, offering a visual anchor to the reported two‑mile point on Kuilau Trail. Both outlets placed the dispatch time at shortly before 11:45 a.m. and the scene‑clear time at shortly after 12:50 p.m., indicating the aerial cliffside rescue and transfer to AMR took about 65 minutes from initial report to clearance.
Kauaʻi Fire Department units identified in reports were Rescue 3 and Air 1; neither source named individual crew members or provided additional operational details such as FAA coordination or exact coordinates for the fall site. Kauai Now and Hawaii News Now did not publish on‑scene quotes from KFD or AMR, and neither outlet released the hiker’s medical condition.
The operation concluded with the injured visitor in AMR care and the Loop Road landing zone cleared shortly after 12:50 p.m., ending the aerial rescue on Kuilau Trail carried out by Kauaʻi Fire Department personnel on March 4.
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