A bear hunter who went missing in the North Carolina woods has been found after a 16-hour rescue involving a Black Hawk helicopter and more than 60 emergency responders, authorities said.
First responders were dispatched to a large area of the Pisgah National Forest after a report of a lost hunter Wednesday night, according to McDowell County Emergency Management and ABC affiliate WLOS-TV.
A man suffered serious injuries after falling in an area known for its rocky cliffs, and emergency responders worked seven hours through the night to execute a plan that would eventually pull him from the forest floor, according to McDowell County Emergency Management and WLOS .
Multiple local, state and federal agencies were involved in the rescue, which included the county’s first known rescue involving a Black Hawk helicopter, WLOS reported.
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“This was a very lengthy incident,” William Kehler, director of McDowell County EMS, told the station in the middle of the rescue, calling the operation “a huge team effort.”
He added, “[Rescuers have] been here all night, all day, and now, we have to safely get all the emergency personnel and other hunters who were helping out of the woods.”
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North Carolina National Guard members on the Black Hawk eventually performed a “technical rescue” that successfully evacuated the man from the steep terrain, according to McDowell County Emergency Management.
Less than 20 minutes later, another helicopter met the Black Hawk to transport the man to Mission Hospital’s trauma center around 11:40 a.m. local time Thursday, according to WLOS.
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It is not clear exactly how the hunter was injured.
Pisgah National Forest, about 30 miles northeast of Asheville, has 500,000 acres of “high peaks, cascading waterfalls and densely forested slopes,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.
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