SIX quick-thinking mates plucked their 18-year-old friend from the water after they watched him plunge 50m down a waterfall on Hinchinbrook Island yesterday.

Emergency Management Queensland aircrew officer Gary Wybenga winched down a doctor and paramedic to help the injured Townsville teen at Mulligan Bay about 9am.

Mr Wybenga said the man was lucky to be alive after the fall.

"He’s lucky that he hit some slopes on the way down because he wouldn’t be so lucky if he had a vertical fall," he said.

"He wasn’t in a good way. He was not conscious. The doctor and paramedic would have been down there for half-an-hour to stabilise him before we winched them back up again."

The teenager was treated for suspected spinal injuries and was later flown to Townsville Hospital.

EMQ pilot Russ Pyers said after the man’s fall, his friends pulled him out of the water and put him on a rock under some shelter during the wet conditions.

The man was in a stable condition at Townsville Hospital last night.

In recent years six people have been injured and one person has died at the waterfall.

Department of Environment and Resource Management regional manager Richard Quincey said there were no barriers at the remote location, but it was well signed.

"The remote location and its natural setting make physical barriers at the site impractical and undesirable from a natural setting perspective," he said.

"The area above the falls is declared as a restricted access area and people are prohibited, for their own safety, from entering this area."

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