Video shows helicopter landing in field, officer saving man who nearly drowned at closed pool

<i>WBAL via CNN Newsource</i><br/>Baltimore police Flight Officer Craig Hoover and Tactical Flight Officer Andre Smith Jr. said patrolling city pools while in Foxtrot is part of their daily routine and they see people pool hopping afterhours on a daily basis. — Willingham, James

By CNN Newsource

Published July 31, 2025 10:26 AM

By Breana Ross

MIDDLE RIVER, Maryland (WBAL) — New video shows the moment the Baltimore police helicopter, Foxtrot, landed outside a city pool to save a man’s life.

A 25-year-old man nearly drowned after entering the Walter P. Carter Pool after it closed on Saturday.

Baltimore police Flight Officer Craig Hoover and Tactical Flight Officer Andre Smith Jr. said patrolling city pools while in Foxtrot is part of their daily routine and they see people pool hopping afterhours on a daily basis.

However, they knew it was an urgent situation at Walter P. Carter Pool and they realized they needed to take immediate action.

A split-second decision wound up saving a life. As Hoover and Smith were responding to another call for a fight Saturday night, they heard a dispatcher say a drowning victim had gone into the pool afterhours and needed help.

“Just knowing the area and knowing where the units were responding to and knowing that Walter P. Carter was pretty much on the other side of the district, I decided to respond to that call,” Smith told 11 News.

What Smith saw next led to another split-second decision.

“I’m putting the helicopter down in the field,” Smith said over the police radio. “This guy looks like he’s not breathing or moving. He’s in cardiac arrest. Have a medic get here ASAP.”

Smith, while making a life-saving decision, told 11 News he wasn’t even thinking.

“I just knew right away, I could tell he was in bad shape. I actually used to be a lifeguard in the city. That was my high school job pretty much up until I joined the police academy, so I knew right away — just looking at him on the video — that he was in bad shape, and he needed compressions pretty quick,” Smith told 11 News.

“Dre pretty much said, ‘I’ll do CPR if you can get me on the ground,'” Hoover told 11 News. “I looked down and found the field.”

Video shows the moment Hoover landed Foxtrot in a field near the pool before Smith got out and ran to do CPR on the man until he became responsive.

The emergency landing is rare in Foxtrot — and a first for Hoover.

“We’ve never had anything in the books for landing in a grassy area in the back of a school to do a water rescue,” Smith told 11 News.

Making that split-second decision allowed them to make a life-saving rescue.

“It feels good,” Smith told 11 News. “For me, it’s just a regular day in the office. We do things like this all the time. I’m just glad we were able to get in the field. It was a tight spot to get in there, but again, my partner did a good job of getting down on the ground — and then the rest is history.”

Smith told 11 News that he and Hoover actually saw people pool hopping the very next day, even after the life-saving incident. Hoover and Smith want to remind people not to enter Baltimore City pools after hours to prevent tragedy.

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