An injured bicyclist stranded along a remote stretch of the C&O Canal towpath near Little Orleans was hoisted to safety by a Maryland State Police helicopter crew on Friday, Sept. 4, around 3:49 p.m. The rugged, canopy-covered terrain in Allegany County left ground crews unable to reach the victim quickly, prompting the call for an aerial extraction just days before the Labor Day holiday.
According to an official statement from the Maryland Department of State Police, the rescue unfolded in an isolated section of the towpath where ground vehicle access is restricted. Allegany County rescue personnel were dispatched to the scene for a person injured in a bicycle accident, and as Tri-State Alert reported, the area sits in a remote pocket of the canal between Allegany and Washington counties, bordering West Virginia and the Potomac River.
How the Hoist Rescue Came Together
The flight crew flew an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter over the dense canopy, then lowered a rescue technician into a nearby clearing before hoisting the injured cyclist out of the wooded area using a Patient Extrication Platform device, the state police statement said. That equipment allows flight paramedics to keep a patient immobilized while raising them into a hovering aircraft. Per Tri-State Alert's reporting, local emergency medical services and rescue personnel assisted with packaging the patient and maintained care on the ground while the aerial extraction was arranged, and the flight crew ultimately transported the victim directly to a local hospital for treatment.
State police said the aerial hoist was necessary because of the victim's remote location, the extended extrication time it would have required, and the nature of the injuries involved. Specific details about the bicyclist's identity, full medical condition, and destination hospital have not been released, in keeping with patient privacy standards.
Trooper 5's Unusual Home Base
The helicopter assigned to the mission, known as Trooper 5, operates out of Greater Cumberland Regional Airport in Wiley Ford, West Virginia — making it the only Maryland State Police aircraft permanently stationed outside Maryland's borders, according to the state police. That cross-border placement allows the unit to respond rapidly across Western Maryland as well as parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Trooper 5 has flown out of the Cumberland area since 1982, and it logged its busiest year on record in 2023, completing 150 medical evacuations, 37 search-and-rescue operations, nine aerial hoist rescues and 16 law enforcement missions, per a report from CNHI.
The same CNHI report noted that in June 2023, Trooper 5 became equipped to carry prehospital O-positive whole blood, making the Maryland State Police Aviation Command the first statewide civilian agency in the nation able to deliver field blood transfusions to severe trauma patients. That capability helps stabilize badly injured patients during long transits to regional hospitals — a critical advantage in a corridor where ambulances often cannot reach victims directly.
A Recurring Challenge Along a Sprawling Trail System
The C&O Canal National Historical Park stretches 184.5 miles along the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, drawing more than 5 million visitors a year to its towpath, according to the National Park Service. Long stretches between public access points create real obstacles for conventional emergency vehicles, which is part of why aerial hoists have become a recurring tool for Western Maryland rescuers.
This was not an isolated incident for Trooper 5's crew. On July 19, the same aircraft hoisted a mountain biker who suffered a seizure and fell along a remote trail in Rocky Gap State Park, also in Allegany County, where dense woods prevented ATV access. And on June 13, Trooper 5 flew a cross-border mission into Grant County, West Virginia, using the same Patient Extrication Platform device to lift an injured hiker out of rugged mountain terrain after local ground crews there could not reach the victim on foot.
The Maryland State Police Aviation Command runs a fleet of 10 AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters across seven bases statewide, providing round-the-clock medevac, search-and-rescue and law enforcement support since 1970, when the unit completed the nation's first civilian trauma medevac flight. Hoodline previously reported that the aviation command performed three separate aerial hoist rescues over the Fourth of July weekend alone, pulling stuck tubers, jet skiers and an injured hiker to safety — a reminder that Western Maryland's rivers and trails keep the state's helicopter crews busy well beyond any single holiday weekend.
