California Highway Patrol officer critically injured by helicopter rotor blade on rescue mission

The rotor blades of a helicopter landing on rugged, remote terrain struck a California Highway Patrol officer and severely injured him as he helped rescue an injured hiker, officials said Monday. Officer Tony Stanley was one of two officers called out to pick up a hiker who had broken a leg and dislocated an ankle during a hike Thursday through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Northern California, said CHP Lt. Scott Fredrick. After the helicopter landed on what Fredrick described as a granite rock next to a steep embankment, Stanley was hit by the aircraft’s rotor blades as he started to climb up the embankment to get to the hiker.