A woman on a commercial hiking tour fell from the Mānoa Falls Trail yesterday morning and was airlifted out in critical condition.

The woman, who appeared to be in her early 60s, had hiked a couple of miles with the group toward Mānoa Falls when she fell about 11:45 a.m., fire Capt. Terry Seelig said.

She ended up about 30 feet below the trail and landed near a stream bed, Seelig said.

Firefighters from the Mānoa station hiked up the trail and reached the site at 12:15 p.m., about the same time that rescue firefighters were rappelling down from the HFD's Air One helicopter, Seelig said.

The woman had life-threatening injuries when firefighters flew her to Mānoa Valley District Park.

"Gusty winds made it a challenge for our helicopter operations," Seelig said.

City paramedics treated and stabilized the woman and transported her to a trauma center in critical condition, said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city Emergency Services Department.

"There were adverse weather conditions," Cheplic said. "The falls were flowing, the river was flowing pretty hard and the trail was slippery."