Copter Pilot Rescues Woman From Ledge

A Coast Guard helicopter pilot landed on a cliff and helped strap a stranded hiker into a harness to rescue her from a tiny perch 80 feet above the ocean, officials said.

Letitia Croom, about 50, of Nyssa, was hiking Tuesday along the cliff near Cape Blanco when she apparently slipped off the trail and onto a ledge measuring about 2 feet by 2 feet, Coast Guard spokesman Jim Hinde said.

When the helicopter arrived, the unidentified pilot turned over the controls to the co-pilot and was lowered by a hoist to a nearby ledge, where he gave Croom his helmet and helped her into the hoist harness, Hinde said.