Maryland State Police conducted aerial rescues across Talbot, Baltimore, and Garrett counties over the Fourth of July weekend in 2026. The missions involved stranded jet skiers, tubers, and an injured individual.

On Friday, July 3, Trooper 6, an aviation unit, rescued three 18-year-old women from the muddy shallows of Skipton Creek in Talbot County. The women became stranded while jet skiing but were uninjured. Fire and rescue personnel communicated with them from the shoreline. Scott Curtin, director of flight operations for Maryland State Police, said the women remained on their jet ski, awaited rescue, and Trooper 6 extracted all three.

On the same day, Maryland State Police Aviation rescued two people who became stranded while tubing in Big Gunpowder Falls. The tubers were stuck in the waterway and mud around 8 p.m. in a remote location north of Warren Bridge Road. Helicopter pilots hovered approximately 200 feet above the tree cover and waterway to execute the rescue. The two individuals were individually hoisted into the aircraft and transported to a nearby elementary school for evaluation by Baltimore County emergency medical services personnel.

On Sunday, July 5, Maryland State Police performed an aerial rescue of a person near Muddy Creek Falls in Swallow Falls State Park in Garrett County. A rescue technician was lowered to a rock in the middle of the river to prepare the patient for aerial extraction. The patient, who had a head injury, was then transported to a local hospital for treatment. Curtin described the location as a wooded area in Garrett County near Swallow Falls.

Maryland State Police aviation units responded to 1,500 missions by July 2026. Of these, 975 were medevacs. The units had conducted 58 law enforcement missions and 94 search and rescue operations. Curtin stated that common incidents include motorcycle accidents and boating incidents, and that an increase in travel leads to more injuries from motor vehicle accidents, resulting in more calls.