An accident Monday afternoon at a popular swimming spot on Pequea Creek in Martic Township sent a 17-year-old Conestoga girl to the hospital, state police said.

The teen, who was not identified by police Monday because of her age, was airlifted to Lancaster General Hospital where she was still being evaluated Monday night, according to state police Trooper Chad Dohner.

Dohner said he could provide no other details about her condition Monday.

He said the girl was swimming with a small group of friends at a turbulent spillway known as along the creek known as Suzy's Hole when the accident occurred at about 2:20 p.m.

Witnesses told police the victim was in a tree and preparing to grab onto a rope swing when she fell and hit a rock.

"It appears she let go of the tree before she had a firm grasp on the rope," Dohner said.

He said the teen's parents had been notified of the incident and were at the hospital with their daughter Monday night.

Midway between the Martic Forge Hotel and the Colemanville Covered Bridge, Suzy's Hole is a pool and rapids at the bottom of an area along the creek known as Pequea Gorge.

Pequea Fire Chief Kevin Hertzog said rescue crews, who were stationed at Marticville Road (Route 324) and River Road, used all-terrain vehicles to reach the victim, who was on the other side of the creek about three-quarters of a mile downstream.

It took emergency personnel about 90 minutes from the time of dispatch to get the victim back to the staging site.

From there, she was driven by ambulance 2½ miles to Marticville Middle School, where a landing zone had been set up, Dohner said.

Though popular with swimmers and innertubers, Suzy's Hole has been the site of numerous rescues in recent years, and two deaths.

In 1998, 4-year-old Katarina Santos drowned while tubing with her family, and a man who had been drinking drowned there in 1994.

In 2000, the Santos family filed a wrongful death suit against PPL Corp., which owns the recreation area along the creek, and Brian Ament, who rented innertubes to the family the day Katarina died. According to newspaper records, the family said PPL and Ament failed to warn them of the swift waters at Suzy's Hole.

In a filed response, PPL said it did not have jurisdiction over the waters and did not have a responsibility to warn anyone of alleged dangers.

The parties reached a settlement in the suit in 2004.

About 40 emergency personnel responded to Monday's accident, Hertzog said.

In addition to Pequea, fire units from Conestoga, Willow Street, Rawlinsville, Quarryville, Columbia and Millersville responded along with Conestoga Ambulance and Susquehanna Valley EMS.

E-mail: jtodd@lnpnews.com