A tragedy was narrowly avoided last weekend when a British Army helicopter transporting food supplies to one the bases in the South Armagh area dropped its cargo of raw food only feet away from a private farm house which is situated in a predominately built up area.
Around 5.30pm on Saturday 2 March, a British Army helicopter approached Jonesboro from the Bessbrook direction. Eyewitnesses watched as a helicopter circled several times and then released its cargo net and contents onto a field near the Kilnasaggart Road.
The supplies, being carried on wooden pallets in a cargo net under the chopper, smashed into the ground, leaving a large crater measuring almost one metre deep and several metres in diameter.
One concerned resident said it was an absolute miracle that the heavy load wasn't dropped onto one of the local homes.
Following the incident, locals rushed to the scene, fearing that the cargo had been dropped onto a house as they had only moments earlier witnessed the helicopter flying in a precarious manner. They said they were verbally abused and threatened by RUC/PSNI and British Army personnel on the ground. One local told of how he feared for his life when a soldier raised and cocked his rifle at him.
Sinn Féin Councillor Packie McDonald said "residents have contacted me to complain about low flying helicopters skimming the roof-tops of houses during day and night and that the area has come under virtual siege in recent weeks with checkpoints on every road. Local people are very worried, as this latest incident could have had catastrophic consequences if this load had fallen on houses in the area or onto a nearby playground, which was being used at the time by children."
South Armagh Farmers' and Residents' Association Chairperson, Declan Fearon, was inundated with complaints expressing disgust at the failure to clear up the mess scattered over a wide area. He witnessed "a substantial amount of raw meat, bacon, sausages and vegetables scattered over a large area". One local said "the smell is nauseating and it's a bloody disgrace that this mess has not been cleared up".
This has greatly outraged the local farming community, as there is a high concentration of both Brucellosis and Tuberculosis diseases currently affecting livestock in the South Armagh area. The majority of the farming community in South Armagh believe that the spread of the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis diseases must be attributed to the continued foot patrolling and helicopter farm hopping to the British Army and the RUC/PSNI.
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