The Maryland State Police is reporting that one of its aviation units rescued a person from an overturned pleasure craft in the Chesapeake Bay Saturday (July 19, 2025).

At about 5 p.m. fire and rescue personnel from St. Mary’s County were dispatched to a location a location approximately 300 yards offshore for three victims stranded in the water. The Maryland State Police Aviation Command Trooper 7 crew, the MSP helicopter based in California, Maryland, were monitoring the county dispatch radio, overheard the dispatch, and self-launched after contact with St. Mary’s ECC and SYSCOM, MSP said in a press release . 

The MSP helicopter made contact with the incident command officer from the Bay District Volunteer Fire Department. The incident commander asked Trooper 7 to perform an aerial hoist rescue because it was believed that the closest fireboat would take too much time to get to the scene. Trooper 7 hovered over the victims in the water and deployed a rescue basket. One person was pulled up into the helicopter in the rescue basket. A fireboat from Calvert County then arrived on scene and Trooper 7 directed the fireboat to the remaining two victims who assisted them out of the water. 

“The flight crew transitioned directly into the medical evacuation role however the patient did not require medevac to an area hospital. Trooper 7 landed next to the command post and transferred the victim to the awaiting ambulance and family. The flight crew of Trooper 7 utilized the Augusta Westland AW-139 helicopter to perform the rescue,” MSP said.

Maryland State Police Aviation Command operates a fleet of 10 AW139 helicopters from seven bases in Maryland. The agency’s missions include medevac, law enforcement, search and rescue, homeland security, and disaster assessment.