This is a list of attacks on British aircraft, both civilian and military, during The Troubles, an armed conflict that took place in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century, also known internationally as the Northern Ireland Conflict. The page also records instances in which the target were airstrips or helipads. All the incidents listed took place as part of the Provisional IRA armed campaign in Northern Ireland, most of them carried out against British Army Air Corps helicopters. The strategic goal of the IRA was to make the continued deployment of British garrisons in South Armagh and other border areas untenable. Since the mid-1970s, all resupply of these bases had to be conducted by helicopters departing from the heliport at Bessbrook Mills barracks because improvised explosive devices and ambushes severely restricted the British army's ability to move troops and supplies by road.Harnden (2000), p. 358 The South Armagh Brigade made the southern area of County Armagh the most dangerous operational area for British helicopters in Northern Ireland.
1970-79 3 July 1970 - A Sioux helicopter carrying 39th Infantry Brigade commander, Brigadier Peter Hudson, was forced to make an emergency landing in the belief that the rotorcraft had been hit by small arms fire during the Belfast riots that became known as the "Falls curfew". 9 October 1970 - A Sioux helicopter searching for militants who had blown up a customs post in County Fermanagh was fired on from across the border in the village of Cloghoge, County Cavan. A single round struck the aircraft's radio. 10 August 1971 - A British Army helicopter was hit by a sniper's bullet as it flew over Belfast. The pilot and aircraft were reportedly saved by a "reinforced shell".Belfast Telegraph, 10 August 1971. 13 August 1971 - A British Army helicopter was fired upon as it flew over the Bogside area of Derry. There were no reported hits.Belfast Telegraph, 13 August 1971. 19 September 1971 - A helicopter supporting an ambushed Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) patrol under attack at Forkhill, County Armagh was engaged by IRA members, who fired fifteen to twenty shots before retreating across the border. 19 September 1971 - An RAF helicopter flying over Belfast was fired upon.Belfast News Letter, 20 September 1971. 13 October 1971 - A helicopter supporting British Army sappers preparing to sabotage a road at Dungooley, on the Louth-Armagh border, was forced to withdraw after coming under fire from an IRA force 40-strong during an engagement that lasted an hour and in which one British soldier was seriously injured.Belfast Telegraph, 14 October 1971. 13 October 1971 - A Sioux helicopter of the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers supporting sappers preparing to sabotage a road in County Tyrone came under small arms fire from three gunmen at Castlederg, scoring two hits. The pilot was forced to make a precautionary landing six miles away. The helicopter had been hit twice, striking the oil tank. 23 October 1971 - A British Army helicopter supporting British soldiers attempting to forcibly prevent civilians from repairing roads cratered the previous day came under automatic fire, as did the soldiers, between the Clonoony salient and Clones, County Monaghan.Belfast News Letter, 25 October 1971. 29 October 1971 - A British military helicopter came under fire while patrolling in the Derry area. Three shots were fired but "no damage was caused".Derry Journal, 2 November 1971. 30 October 1971 - A British Army helicopter came under fire near a road that been bombed by the British Army at Teemore, County Fermanagh. British soldiers in the area were also fired upon, and on the same day eight border customs posts were destroyed in bombings.Fermanagh Herald, 6 November 1971. 7 November 1971 - A British military helicopter came under fire while flying over the Brandywell area of Derry. Fourteen shots were fired but none hit.Derry Journal, 9 November 1971. 8 November 1971 - A British Army helicopter came under fire during an attack on British soldiers who were using a bulldozer to sabotage the road to Kiltyclogher on the Fermanagh side of the border.Fermanagh Herald, 13 November 1971. 11 November 1971 - A helicopter was fired on from across the border while landing near Belleek RUC station, County Fermanagh. Four shots were fired at the aircraft but none hit. Soldiers returned fire and reportedly injured a man on the Donegal side of the border.Belfast Telegraph, 12 November 1971. 11 November 1971 - A British Army helicopter was fired on from the Flagstaff-Omeath area while flying along the border near Newry, County Armagh. Provisional IRA leader Joe Cahill was addressing a ceremony commemorating the Edentubber martyrs in the vicinity. Twenty-five shots were fired but none hit.Belfast Telegraph, 15 November 1971. 17 November 1971 - A British Army helicopter was fired on in Derry, three shots were fired but the aircraft wasn't hit.Belfast News Letter, 17 November 1971. 23 November 1971 - A British Army helicopter was fired on in Derry, fifteen or seventeenBelfast News Letter, 24 November 1971. shots were fired but there were no reported injuries.Belfast Telegraph, 24 November 1971. 29 November 1971 - A British Army helicopter was fired on in the Long Tower area of Derry, three shots were fired but there were no reported injuries.Derry Journal, 30 November 1971. 6 December 1971 - A British Army helicopter was fired upon from the Kildrum Gardens area of the Creggan, Derry, during heavy clashes that erupted when a 500-strong British search force attempted to enter the Creggan and Bogside areas.Belfast Telegraph, 6 December 1971. 7 December 1971 - A British Army helicopter was fired upon in Derry. A single gunman fired four shots but none hit.Belfast Telegraph, 7 December 1971. 10 December 1971 - A helicopter and a Ferret armoured car were fired on while attending a cattle inspection post which had just been bombed near Killeen customs post outside Newry, County Armagh.Birmingham Daily Post, 11 December 1971. One soldier was shot; the injury was determined be self-inflicted.Belfast News Letter, 11 December 1971. 13 December 1971 - A British Army helicopter came under fire in the vicinity of the Creggan area of Derry, reportedly eleven shots were fired at the aircraft but no hits were reported.Belfast News Letter, 14 December 1971. 30 December 1971 - A British Army helicopter was fired upon in Derry; the Provisional IRA claimed to have hit and damaged the aircraft but this was denied by the British Army.Belfast Telegraph, 31 December 1971. 30 December 1971 - A British Army helicopter responding to the hijacking and burning of a bus at Aghalane Bridge on the Fermanagh-Cavan border was fired upon.Fermanagh Herald, 8 December 1972. 13 January 1972 - A Royal Marines Sioux helicopter was fired at and hit in Derry while carrying out a reconnaissance mission. The aircraft flew back to its base and landed safely. 9 February 1972 - A helicopter was fired upon shortly after a bomb wrecked a telephone repeater station at a border post at Killean, County Armagh.Belfast Telegraph, 9 February 1972. 27 February 1972 - A helicopter was fired upon while hovering over the Creggan Estate in Derry, the British Army reported.Belfast Telegraph, 28 February 1972. 19 April 1972 - A helicopter was fired upon while circling near Ballygawley, County Tyrone but there were no reported injuries and the helicopter returned to base safely. A dozen shots were fired.Belfast Telegraph, 19 April 1972. 15 June 1972 - A helicopter was fired upon while flying between Belleek and Garrison, County Fermanagh. The militants also detonated a claymore mine but the helicopter was undamaged. The crew returned fire but scored no hits.Belfast Telegraph, 15 June 1972. 24 June 1972 - An RAF Sioux helicopter, damaged after an accidental crash-landing, received small arms fire near Dungiven town, County Londonderry, in the course of an IRA bomb and gunfire ambush on the convoy transporting it to RAF Aldergrove. The helicopter pilot was wounded. 12 July 1972 - A British Army helicopter came under automatic fire while flying over the Lower Falls area of Belfast but wasn't hit.Belfast Telegraph, 12 July 1972. 18 July 1972 - A helicopter came under fire from armed men while flying over the Andersonstown area of Belfast.Irish Press, 19 July 1972. 18 July 1972 - A British Army helicopter came under fire while flying over Bangor, County Down; four shots were fired from the River Road area. The crew escaped injury and the airframe was undamaged.Evening Herald, 19 July 1972. 19 July 1972 - A British Army helicopter came under "heavy sniper fire" north of Strabane, County Tyrone, according to a Provisional IRA statement.Strabane Chronicle, 22 July 1972. 31 July 1972 - A Westland Scout helicopter carrying a battalion commander was fired upon while flying above the Creggan, Derry during Operation Motorman. It was serving as an airborne command post to coordinate ground operations. 10 August 1972 - A Sioux helicopter was fired at and forced to pull out while responding to an IRA attack on a British Army permanent checkpoint in Crossmaglen. 18 October 1971 - A British Army helicopter of the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers came under fire in two separate incidents within an hour while flying along the border at Laghtfoggy, near Castlederg, County Tyrone.Belfast News Letter, 19 October 1972. 25 October 1972 - A British Army helicopter ferrying wounded soldiers to Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast was fired upon. Other helicopters in the vicinity were also fired upon and subsequently withdrawn from the area.Belfast Telegraph, 25 October 1972. 25 October 1972 - A British Army helicopter providing observation support for an Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders patrol under fire was shot at along the border with County Louth.Belfast News Letter, 26 October 1972. 2 November 1972 - A Scout helicopter was fired at by seven IRA members at Moybane near Crossmaglen. Soldiers onboard returned fire with their issued rifles. Neither side scored any hits.Belfast Telegraph, 2 November 1972. 14 December 1972 - A Sioux helicopter conducting a reconnaissance mission was fired at by several IRA members armed with M1 Garand rifles near Crossmaglen. Six rounds hit the helicopter slightly injuring an observer and causing damage to the aircraft. The pilot was forced to make an emergency landing at Crossmaglen base. The pilot also reported that a rocket exploded in front of the aircraft, almost certainly fired from an RPG-7 anti-tank rocket launcher. 15 December 1972 - A Sioux helicopter came under fire from militants operating from the Drumarg Estate in Armagh town. Six shots were fired at the aircraft, but none hit.Belfast Telegraph, 16 December 1972. 12 January 1973 - A British Army helicopter was fired at in the Millbrook Bridge area along the Donegal-Derry border. A British Army patrol investigating the shooting was also fired upon and a gun battle ensued.Derry Journal, 16 January 1973. 4 February 1973 - A British Army helicopter was fired at but wasn't hit while carrying out a routine patrol at Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh.Belfast News Letter, 5 February 1973. 8 March 1973 - A British Army helicopter came under fire while hovering over Strabane, County Tyrone.Belfast News Letter, 9 March 1973. 20 March 1973 - A British Army helicopter received several shots in the vicinity of Aughnacloy and Clogher in County Tyrone.Belfast Telegraph, 21 March 1973. 21 July 1973 - A British Army helicopter investigating an explosion which destroyed a disused house near Clady, County Tyrone, came under fire from County Donegal.Belfast Telegraph, 21 July 1973. 25 October 1973 - A British Army helicopter was fired at but reported no hits at Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.Belfast Telegraph, 25 October 1973.