SYNOPSIS: The OH6A Cayuse (commonly called "Loach") was the result of the U.S.  Defense Department's vision of a single helicopter able to perform such duties as personnel or cargo transport, light ground attack, casualty evacuation, observation, and photographic reconnaissance. It proved most effective at visual reconnaissance, however, searching out the enemy even in heavily defended areas, as the crew peered through gaps in the jungle canopy from the oval pod-shaped aircraft.

On November 24, 1970, WO1 Ian McIntosh was an observer on an OH1A helicopter  (tail number 67-16484), flown by Capt. Robert J. Young, on an armed reconnaissance mission with two Cobra gunships southeast of Khe Sanh.

The aircraft had been flying for approximately an hour and 3 minutes when the crew observed what appeared to be a new NVA living area. The Cobra gunships engaged the target, and the OH6A subsequently entered the target area to assess the damage. The OH6A was hit by automatic rifle fire on the underside in the left front area where WO1 McIntosh was sitting (nearly the entire front from above head level to below knee level was glass).

Capt. Young immediately left the target area, noticing that WO1 McIntosh was in a great deal of pain and trying to straighten up. At that time, the aircraft engine quit, so the pilot attempted to land in an open area. The aircraft burst into flames before crashing in the vicinity. Capt. Young believed WO McIntosh died shortly after the crash. The flames were starting to enter the cockpit, so the pilot pulled himself out, and just as he got out, the aircraft became engulfed in flames. Three minutes later, the helicopter exploded with WO1 McIntosh still inside.

Ian McIntosh was declared Killed, Body Not Recovered. His name appears among the missing because no body was found to return home for burial. He is one of two Canadians on the U.S. military rolls of missing, and one of many from that country that willingly volunteered to fight against the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.