Father suspected of "deliberately" sending family vehicle off cliff when it was carrying wife and children.

A Tesla driver has been detained on suspicion of deliberately causing a crash that his family narrowly avoided in California, according to officials.

Dharmesh Arvind Patel, 41, was traveling on Highway 1 in San Francisco on Monday with his wife and two young children when his automobile veered off the road and plunged to the shoreline some 250 feet (75 meters) below.

All four occupants escaped despite the vehicle suffering obvious serious damage and a sharp plunge. In order to aid evacuate the family to safety, emergency personnel rappelled down to the wreck and helicopters were called in.

Rescue workers stated it was highly rare for anyone to survive a crash along this shoreline because it is notorious for them.

On Wednesday, the California Highway Patrol informed AFP that Patel had been detained at Stanford Hospital and would be moved to a close-by county jail once his treatment was complete.

According to a statement from the agency, "CHP detectives worked throughout the night interviewing witnesses and obtaining evidence from the site."

"Based on the evidence collected, investigators developed probable cause to believe this incident was an intentional act."

Rescue workers claimed it was highly rare for anyone to survive such a steep fall. The area of shoreline around 20 miles south of central San Francisco is notorious for wrecks.

The car's damage suggested it had collided with the cliff and flipped numerous times during the descent.

Emergency personnel first thought no one would have survived when they arrived on the scene on Monday, but they soon noticed movement through the car's broken window and launched a rescue mission involving several aircraft.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's incident commander, Brian Pottenger, admitted that they were "really extremely startled" to discover survivors inside the car.

Only "moderate injuries" were suffered by the four-year-old kid and seven-year-old girl, according to him.

Although it is unknown whether the Tesla was in automated mode, the statement claimed that "it does not appear to be a contributing element in this incident."

Outside of Los Angeles, Patel works as a doctor at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.

The hospital "is profoundly grieved to learn about a traffic incident involving one of our physicians and his family," a spokesman said in a statement to AFP.

"We are incredibly happy that no serious injuries occurred. Due to the ongoing inquiry into this occurrence, we won't be responding further "explained he.