A Buller High School field trip took an unfortunate turn for a 15-year-old girl today when she fell down a cave shaft, sparking a helicopter rescue.
Ashley Tipping had climbed part-way down into a cave at Darkies Terrace in Charleston, near Westport, when she fell the remaining twometres and broke her leg.
Police were notified of the incident noon.
Local ambulance staff attended the scene, along with the Greymouth rescue helicopter and Westport Fire Service.
Ashley was lifted about 8 metres up a near vertical slope to the surface and flown to hospital.
Constable Sean Judd, of West Coast police search and rescue, said the area was known to be dangerous, and there had been accidents there in the past, including a fatality when someone fell into a cave several years ago.
"It's been a mining area and there are natural holes around ... If you leave the track you have to take a degree of caution," he said.
Mr Judd said he could not recall any signs warning of the dangers in the area.
Ashley is now in a comfortable condition in hospital.
