Man Is Second Person to Die in Pirate's Cove Fall in 6 Months

CORONA DEL MAR - A 51-year-old Lakewood man died Tuesday after falling down a cliff at Pirate’s Cove. He’s the second person to die in a fall at Corona Del Mar cliffs in less than a year.

David Kirkendal died at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo less than two hours after his fall, according to the Orange County Coroner’s office.

Kirkendal had been taking pictures with a companion early Tuesday morning before sunrise when he lost his footing and fell 30-feet onto the rocks below, according to the Newport Beach Fire Department.

Rescuers treated him at the scene and then waded through water to load him onto an Orange County Harbor Patrol boat so he could be transported to a trauma center.

According to The Orange County Register, an Irvine woman fell to her death at the cove in October.