Helicopter footage shows rescue of California hiker dangling from cliff: 'Don't let go'

A hiker who fell off a California trail and hung onto a cliff for his life was rescued by a helicopter in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Southern Marin Fire District used thermal imaging from the Henry-1 helicopter to locate the man on Sunday night, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said Monday in a Facebook post. Once the officials were close enough, they hoisted the man to safety on top of the cliff, where fire personnel medically examined him.

Dramatic helicopter footage released by the sheriff’s office showed the man clinging onto the cliff while dangling over the rising ocean tide.

"Don't let go man. Don't let go, OK?," the rescuer told the hiker. "I got you, brother."

The officer helped the man put on a harness and the two were flown to safety. Video shows the man being safely released at the top of the mountain.

Hiker fell 50 to 60 feet from the trail

The hiker fell about 50 to 60 feet down from the hiking trail, according to the the fire district.

"The victim was about 40 feet off the water line," Battalion Chief Jason Golden told station KGO-TV. "The tide was coming up and he was stuck on the cliff."

The rescuer, formally known as a tactical flight officer, said it was one of the most precarious rescue operations he experienced "because of how the victim was grabbing on and how quickly they were letting go," Golden told the station.

The drastic rescue occurred near the Alexander Battery trail in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the sheriff's office said.

The fire department warned on a Facebook post that the landscape can be extremely dangerous and urged hikers to take caution near the edges of the cliffs.