SCUBA masks used by dive team have a system for above/under water communication
— Kristi King (@king海角社区app) Underwater Recovery Team train today
— Kristi King (@king海角社区app)
Tpr Justin UpDegraff checks Hard Hat Dive Helmet's nasal cavity for leak during dive team training
— Kristi King (@king海角社区app) 
Trooper Of Yr TFC Scott Bell & Cpl Michael Dawson assit diveteam member training
— Kristi King (@king海角社区app) Dive gear wet/dry suits. Dry suits to layer clothes under in cold water or if water contaminated.
— Kristi King (@king海角社区app)
TFC Adam Matthai stands by as a 'safety diver' for dive team ofc training underwater
— Kristi King (@king海角社区app) 
WASHINGTON — Maryland state troopers don鈥檛 just patrol the highways, they dive into the water and recover evidence.
On Wednesday, the Maryland State Police Underwater Recovery Team held a training exercise at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis to demonstrate its equipment and show off its skills.
One of those skills includes 鈥渟eeing鈥� in the dark when diving in black water with no visibility.
“We know what we’re supposed to be looking for, whether it be a handgun or a shotgun, or a vehicle to a body,鈥� said Trooper Megan Heun of the Underwater Recovery Team. 鈥淎nd you have to picture in your mind, kind of what that feels like and what that looks like.鈥�
The team needs specialized training for the .
“If a plane were to crash, we’d have to go in and try to recover the pilot,” said Trooper First Class Adam Matthai. “It’d be our job to try to get him out of there as soon as possible.”
Participating aircraft might include everything from fighter jets to helicopters, so dive team members need to become familiar with various cockpits.
“We meet with some of the pilots and look at how the cockpit is set up [to learn] where to hit with an entry tool and where not to — to try to get them out,” Matthai said.
Getting sunken planes, boats or cars to the water surface involves the use of specialized equipment, such as airbags. Attaching and inflating those airbags is a lot easier now that the dive team has hard hat diving helmets.
“The helmet allows us more flexibility [vs scuba],” said MSP Sgt. Adam Howard. “We don’t have the buoyancy compensator or the air tank or anything else. All we have to deal with using the helmet is the operation at hand.”
