Tourist critical after Uluru rescue

A Taiwanese tourist has been winched from Uluru in a critical condition after spending more than 24 hours trapped in a crevice.

The 27-year-old has hypothermia, head injuries, and fractures to his pelvis and several limbs, the Royal Flying Doctor Service says.

Police say the man fell into the crevice on Thursday afternoon after getting separated from two female companions and taking an alternative route back to base.

He was spotted from the air at 6pm, by which point it was too dark to pull him out.

Police officers, national park staff and his two companions stayed in contact with him overnight as temperatures dropped to about five degrees Celsius.

A rescue began on Friday morning and the man was winched some 200 metres up the face of Uluru before arriving at a helicopter landing spot around 6pm.

He was then flown to the nearby Yulara Clinic with plans to airlift him on to Alice Springs Hospital.