2 Rescued After 'Drowsy' Driver Plunges Off Steep Cliff Near Stinson Beach

STINSON BEACH (CBS SF) -- Drowsy driving may be behind a plunge two people took late Friday night in their vehicle off a cliff near Stinson Beach in unincorporated Marin County, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Car sits amid the rocks and waves after plunging off cliff near Stinson Beach. (CHP)

CHP officers were dispatched at about 11:50 p.m. to a traffic collision on state Highway 1 south of Stinson Beach, CHP officials said.

Officers learned on the way that a vehicle went off a cliff into the ocean and was partially submerged with high tide approaching, according to CHP officials.

Officers were unsure where the vehicle was located and called for a CHP helicopter, CHP officials said.

An officer on the helicopter spotted the vehicle at about 12:20 a.m. Saturday morning with the use of night goggles and an aircraft spotlight, according to CHP officials.

Waves were crashing against the vehicle, CHP officials said.

Steep cliff near Stinson Beach where a driver and passenger plunged, landing on the ocean and rocks below. (CHP)

The pilot landed the helicopter on the beach about 100 yards away and relayed information to firefighters on their way, according to CHP officials.

Fire crews extricated the male driver and female passenger from the vehicle and by 1:15 a.m., 20 minutes before high tide, both were en route by air to a hospital, according to CHP officials.

The driver and passenger are both Stinson Beach residents and both suffered life-threatening injuries, CHP officials said.