Crew Unable to Rescue Man Swept Into Ocean

A 61-year-old Los Angeles fisherman died Saturday after he was swept off the jagged boulders of Mugu Rock, despite a rescue attempt by a helicopter crew from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The body of Unyong Park was found at 9:40 a.m. floating face down in the water about 200 yards offshore by a four-person helicopter crew from the sheriff’s search and rescue aviation unit.

“He had obviously been fishing on Mugu Rock,” said pilot Dan Shea, 48, of Santa Paula. “He was fully clothed and wearing a fishing license pinned to his shirt.”

Bystanders had watched helplessly as treacherous currents swept Park out to sea.

Rescue swimmer Frank Underlin of Camarillo leaped 20 feet from the hovering Vietnam War-era Huey helicopter into 3-foot waves to attach a rescue collar to Park’s body. Moorpark resident Tim Hagel, the crew chief and hoist operator, brought the man’s body into the helicopter for a short flight to the shore.

Volunteer paramedic Robert Higham of Thousand Oaks, who had been flown to the beach while Underlin swam the short distance to Park, continued the unsuccessful effort to revive Park that Hagel had begun aboard the helicopter.

Park’s body temperature had fallen 8 degrees below normal after he spent an estimated 20 minutes in the 68-degree water, Higham said. Park was airlifted to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

More than 60% of the water rescues the unit conducts in the area involve fishermen, Shea said. The slippery and steep cliffs of Mugu Rock are prone to unpredictable swells.

“This is a common thing at Mugu Rock,” said the 20-year department veteran. “We’ve probably had 10 to 15 of these over the years. The fishermen just want to get closer and closer to the surf.”

A cold Alaskan current sweeps down the coast directly into the rock and is known for rapidly displacing onlookers, who end up in the water, Hagel said.

“It’s like a roller coaster ride,” he said. “It’s fast.”

With two more days of the busy Labor Day weekend remaining, Saturday’s rescue is unlikely to be the last, crew members said. They warned beach-goers to be alert to quickly changing surf conditions.

“The ocean is very unforgiving,” Hagel said.