The IRA unit was involved at the time in a gun battle with a Green Jackets observation post deployed in the area, and the helicopter was sent in to support the ground troops.

By early 1978, the British Army forces involved in Operation Banner had recently replaced their ageing Bell H-13 Sioux helicopters for the more versatile Aérospatiale Gazelles.

[1] In the same period, the Provisional IRA received its first consignment of M60 machine guns from the Middle East, which were displayed by masked volunteers during a Bloody Sunday commemoration in Derry.

[2][3] Airborne operations were crucial for the British presence along the border, especially in south County Armagh, where the level of IRA activity meant that every supply and soldier had to be ferried in and out of their bases by helicopter since 1975.

[5] On 17 January 1978, a Green Jackets observation post deployed around the village of Jonesborough began to take heavy fire from the "March Wall", which drew parallel with the Irish border to the east, along the Dromad woods.

[7] The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Corden-Lloyd, along with Captain Philip Schofield and Sergeant Ives flew from the battalion base at Bessbrook Mill to assess the situation and provide information to the troops.

[7] According to the crew and passengers of the Scout, the Gazelle hit the ground twice after losing power, with its rotor blades trashing into the soil following the second impact, and then cartwheeled across the field.