Nether Portal Transport Problem

I was in Hardcore mode on the Local Machine. Started world in 14w26b.
When I went through the portal for the first time, I was spawned in the middle of Netherrack. To avoid suffocation, I knocked out four pieces of Netherrack with my axe. It turned out that the blocks I knocked out were below me; however I did not fall down to the bottom of the vertical tunnel I had created. I was suspended. When I looked around, there was no part of a nether portal evident. In an attempt to find the lost portal, I broke out a block of Netherrack next me and discovered lava on the other side. Game Over!