A man fell from the second deck of the Midway Museum and became wedged in a doorway on the deck below, officials said Thursday.
The Midway Museum is a retired aircraft carrier docked along San Diego’s Embarcadero.
San Diego Fire-Rescue said they were called just after 8 a.m. to rescue the man on the third deck of the ship.
Battalion Chief David Connor said the 71-year-old man fell about 15 feet down a hatchway.
After he fell, the man said he could not free himself because he was injured, officials said.
He was able to get the attention of someone else on the ship, who called 911.
Using pulleys and ropes, it took firefighters 15 minutes to rescue the man.
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He was transported to UCSD Medical Center. No details on his injuries were released at this time.
The man is associated with the museum according to fire officials but they did not know he was doing at the time of the fall.
Firefighters described the doorway as a hatchway, often used to provide access to the floor or deck below.
It turns out, these hatches have what are called high points that allow crews to attach rescue related equipment when making these kinds of rescues.
"They work together using ropes and pulleys and hoists and things like that and they would immobilize him and bring him up and put him on the gurney," said Connor.
"In this case, we didn't have to use the crane to get him out and we put him on the elevator and just bring him down to safety."
San Diego Fire-Rescue said they perform several of these rescues every year on board the Midway Museum.
