Woman dies after car flies off PCH into the surf

A vehicle flew off the Pacific Coast Highway early Monday, landing upside down in the surf at Thornhill Broome Beach in Ventura County and killing the driver, authorities said.

Ventura County Fire Department rescuers responded to the call around 1:40 a.m. Monday.

Crashing waves initially hampered rescuers’ access to the vehicle, requiring it to be pulled onto the sand, fire Capt. Robert Welsbie said.

The driver, a woman, was dead when rescuers reached her, Welsbie said.

The Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard dispatched helicopters to search the seas for anyone else who may have been inside the car. Around 25 rescuers from the Ventura city and Oxnard Fire Departments also were used, according to Welsbie.

The Coast Guard, which also dispatched a boat from Channel Islands Harbor, called off the search at 7 a.m. after it was determined the woman was the sole occupant in the vehicle.