Tesla plunges 250 feet off a California cliff, all 4 occupants survive - CNN

CNN  — 

Two adults and 2 children someway escaped superior injuries aft their Tesla plunged disconnected a cliff on California’s Pacific Coast Highway and crashed connected a rocky formation immoderate 250 feet below.

The incidental occurred Monday greeting astatine an country called Devil’s Slide, immoderate 20 miles southbound of San Francisco.

“We were precise shocked” to observe that radical successful the car had survived the crash, said Brian Pottenger, battalion main with Cal Fire’s Coastside Fire Protection District.

“Accidents connected that cliff are not rare. We bash respond to a batch of vehicles connected that cliff,” helium told CNN. “What’s uncommon is that we bash not get a batch of survivors – surviving this benignant of mishap is precise rare.”

Pottenger said the car contained an big male, an big female, a 9-year-old lad and a 4-year-old girl. The children were some secured successful car seats, which remained intact and successful place, helium said.

Officials said the four-door, achromatic Tesla sedan was traveling southbound connected Highway 1, conscionable southbound of the Tom Lantos Tunnel betwixt Pacifica and Montara, erstwhile it veered disconnected the roadway. They did not mention a crushed for the crash.

A spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol told CNN they bash not judge immoderate of the Tesla’s self-driving features were progressive astatine the time.

“The harm to the conveyance would bespeak that it hit, and past flipped respective times,” Pottenger said. The car came to remainder connected its wheels, helium added.

Firefighters rappelled down the cliff to the car portion different archetypal responders watched done binoculars.

“As we were doing that, we were capable to announcement question successful the beforehand spot done the windshield,” Pottenger said. “So we knew that we had astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic that was alive.”

The car’s occupants were trapped wrong the mangled vehicle, officials said. All 4 were conscious erstwhile the occurrence section reached them, Pottenger told CNN.

Crews freed the 2 children and utilized a enactment to assistance them up the cliff successful baskets. Later a California Highway Patrol chopper hoisted the 2 adults to safety.

The California Highway Patrol posted dramatic video of the chopper lowering a rescuer connected a cablegram to the clang tract portion surf crashed against the rocks below.

The San Mateo Sheriff’s Office said Monday that the 2 adults suffered “non-life threatening injuries” and the 2 children were “unharmed.”

The car’s occupants were transported to Stanford Medical Center for treatment, Pottenger said. An update connected their conditions was not disposable Tuesday.

Officials person not released the identities of the 4 survivors oregon said whether each 4 were from the aforesaid family.

The CHP is investigating and volition find the origin of the crash, Pottenger said.

“This was a traumatic accident, and they survived,” helium said. “And it was a bully result to a precise atrocious situation.”